On July 18, 2011 at approximately 7:04 a.m., Mark Stewart Russell III, 42, of Beaver Bay accidentally struck his son, Reagan David Russell, age 14 months, with a motor vehicle. The toddler died shortly after being transported to North Shore Hospital.
The accident occurred in the Grand Marais Recreation Area in Grand Marais where the Russell family and other adults with church youth groups from New Prague, MN and Beaver Bay were preparing breakfast before heading into the community to conduct service projects. More propane was needed for cooking at the Rec. Park pavilion and Mark Russell borrowed a 1999 Chevy pick-up truck and drove to the south side of the pavilion to load a tank into the bed of the truck. He loaded the cylinder, backed up and moved forward, not realizing that his 14-month-old son had stepped between the wheels of the vehicle.
Emergency 911 calls were made and First Responders and Cook County Ambulance were paged. A life flight helicopter was paged, but before responders arrived, Deborah Russell, 38, ran to her son and another party brought a vehicle and they transported Reagan to the hospital. A life flight helicopter was dispatched, but Reagan succumbed to his injuries
Numerous witnesses were interviewed, all providing the same details. There was no indication of alcohol or drug use. Sheriff Mark Falk said incidents like this are automatically reviewed by the Cook County Attorney, however, Falk said it is unlikely that charges would be filed in the tragic accident.
At press time, the North Shore community shared the Russell family’s grief. Pastor Dave Harvey of the Evangelical Free Church in Grand Marais said the Cook County Ministerium representative on call, Pastor Dale McIntire met with the family. Pastor Harvey went to the Recreation Area and with the youth leaders for New Prague and Beaver Bay had a time of prayer and counsel with the kids that had been on hand at the time of the accident.
Musicians played and people just listened and prayed and spent time together. Instead of conducting the planned work service projects, many youths collected beach stones and painted Biblical verses on them. A worship concert was held at Harbor Park in the evening.
However, Pastor Harvey said the group made a decision to carry on with some of the service work planned and on Tuesday, youths were out working in the community. At press time several projects were underway.
Visitation for Reagan Russell was Thursday, July 21 at the Bay Area Vineyard Church and funeral services were scheduled for 11:00 a.m. on Friday, July 22 at the Mary MacDonald Center in Silver Bay. Burial will be in Beaver Bay Cemetery.
A fund in Reagan’s memory has been established at the North Shore Federal Credit Union.
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