Community Corner

Mother Sues Over Hopkins Grad's Trekking Death

Thomas Plotkin, of Minnetonka, died when he fell off a path in the Himalayas.

The mother of a Minnetonka man who fell to his death while trekking in the Himalayas has sued the company that ran the trip, the Pioneer Press reported Thursday.

Thomas Plotkin, a 20-year-old college student and Hopkins High School grad, was on a semester-long trip with the Lander,WY-based National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) two years ago when he slipped on a wet rock and fell near the edge of a treacherous path above the Gori Ganga River in northern India. His backpack pulled him over the ledge and into the flooded river 300 feet below. His body was never found.

A lawsuit filed by Plotkin's mother, Elizabeth Brenner, claims that the students weren’t properly trained and were poorly equipped and that NOLS instructors were slow to get help. The suit accuses the company of "willful and wanton" negligence and of knowing there was a significant risk "of severe injury or death."

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NOLS declined to discuss the case. Its own investigation concluded that the incident was a "tragic accident."

Click here to read the full Pioneer Press story.

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