Title: Airlifted to Boston

Informant info: Courtney Ligh is a current member of the class of 2016. She is 21 years old and from New York, NY. On campus, she is involved in Students Fighting Hunger and her sorority.

Type of lore: Verbal, urban legend

Language: English

Country of Origin: United States

Social / Cultural Context: Courtney was interviewed in her dorm. She has experienced the bonfire three times (once her freshman year and twice her junior/senior years).

Item: A student from a few years before the 16s came to Dartmouth attempted to touch the fire. The student was running too fast and could not stop themselves. They fell into the fire and got very severe burns. They needed to be airlifted straight to Boston to treat their injuries.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Transcript (if verbal lore):

“Freshman year, a bunch of times before running around the bonfire, I heard that a few years prior: somebody touched the fire and fell in and actually had to be airlifted to Boston.”

Informant’s comments: Informant remembered hearing about this urban legend from multiple people before her freshman homecoming weekend.

Collector’s comments: Collector remembers also hearing this urban legend. This story is often told as a warning about touching the fire.

Tags/Keywords: bonfire, urban legend, airlifted