Mother Teresa May Have Saved Spokane Student Man Went To Calcutta Instead Of Taking Bus Trip That Killed 7
Mother Teresa and a dash of blind luck might have helped save a Spokane man - or at least saved his family a lot of worry.
Michael Kelly, 24, has been touring India as a part of a study-abroad program that sails to Third World countries. Kelly, a University of Colorado student, decided to skip a scheduled bus trip to the Taj Mahal and fly to Calcutta to see the Mother House.
The bus flipped Thursday, killing five American students.
“It was a little bit shocking because it was his (group),” said Colleen Kelly, Michael’s sister. “But we already knew he wasn’t going to the Taj Mahal.”
The accident happened near Bhimnagar, a village 15 miles north of Agra, home of the 17th century monument. The bus went off the road about midnight as it tried to pass another vehicle on the pothole-riddled road in northern India. The bus driver and a tour guide were also killed.
The Kellys found out about the wreck on Thursday morning. Ed Kelly, Michael’s father, was at work when his secretary told him she had heard the story on the radio. He called home.
Colleen and her mother were watching “Good Morning America” as they packed to leave for Seattle. Just after Ed Kelly phoned home, the story popped up on the morning news show.
Ed Kelly had nagging fears about his son, even though they’d talked on the phone two days earlier about the Calcutta trip.
“There’s always that certain amount of doubt, a change of plans at the last minute,” Ed Kelly said. “Sometimes, there are last-minute openings on a trip. They switch around occasionally.”
But when the names of the victims were released, Michael Kelly wasn’t among them.
The family still hasn’t talked to Michael, and they hope he’ll call soon.
“Especially his mother,” Ed Kelly said. “We’d both just like to hear it from him - what he’s experienced and how it’s affected other students.”
They’re also hoping to hear about his mini-pilgrimage to Mother Teresa, the Roman Catholic nun who won the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize and runs missions worldwide that care for the sick and dying.
“He’s never said a word about her,” Ed Kelly said. “He is concerned about other people. That was one of the things that really got him into this trip - going to Third World countries.”
The Semester at Sea program offers credits to college students who study on the ship and take field trips at Third World ports. This semester’s ship sailed from the Bahamas to Venezuela, Brazil, South Africa and Kenya.
On the trip, Michael Kelly has joined a parade at Carnival in Rio, learned to like coffee in Venezuela and watched children sing for the group in a South Africa township.
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