Yes, go talk to them. You will come away very surprised. Actually, Declan Sullivan's parents are still very supportive of Kelly and Notre Dame.
"The family — whose ties to the campus and its sister school, St. Mary's College, go back several decades — witnessed how much his death distressed the Notre Dame community and
had no desire to compound that grief with a lawsuit or public criticism, Barry Sullivan said.
A week after the accident, the university's president, the Rev. John I. Jenkins, sent a letter to students and alumni, expressing his sorrow and accepting personal responsibility for the accident. "Declan Sullivan was entrusted to our care, and we failed to keep him safe," Jenkins wrote.
The letter's sentiment set the tone for Declan's parents' dealings with the university, Sullivan said.
"
We saw people that were obviously suffering," he said. "They felt a great sense of responsibility for what happened. How could we add to their pain with displays of anger or anything like that?"
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/...lan-sullivan-barry-sullivan-football-practice
"
They did not have the moral outrage that others mustered for them. They acknowledged that Notre Dame had made mistakes, that his death could and should have been prevented.
Yet the Sullivans cheered, for Notre Dame and for its football team, even louder than before. Their daughter, Gwyneth or Wyn, as she is called, continued to attend college there. Their other son, Macartan, known as Mac, recently submitted his application."
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/30/s...ds-to-death-by-not-pointing-fingers.html?_r=0
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What does a stricken family do two years later? They still love Notre Dame.
Wyn is a junior there, studying this semester in Ireland. Mac is a high school senior, looking at joining his sister on the campus where there is a memorial to their brother.
The tribute includes a plaque with a poem, a shamrock and the initials DDS, a couple of benches, and some trees. It is not far from the practice field where the lift collapsed. It is also at the spot where the family once used as a meeting place after Notre Dame games, Barry and Mac tossing the football, waiting for Declan.
The family deeply appreciates the gesture of the memorial, though Alison, an avid gardener, was a little worried about the trees. "Let's not plant a tree,'' she told her husband. "Because if the tree dies, I would feel bad.''
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sport.../lopresti-notre-dame-declan-sullivan/1701367/
"Declan’s parents still live near Chicago. Barry is an engineer by trade, and Allison is a physician. T
hey don’t blame the Fighting Irish football program or the school that was so important to their son. If anything, Barry Sullivan said, the success Notre Dame has had this season has helped them feel closer to Declan.
“It’s a positive experience for us. Right after the accident, I kind of wondered, ‘Will we ever be able to enjoy a football game, enjoy being on the campus?’ ” Sullivan said. “But we really have. I’m glad we’ve been able to do that.”
“
I’d have to say the experience, if anything has drawn us closer” to the school.
The Declan Drumm Sullivan Memorial Fund, buoyed by an undisclosed donation from Notre Dame, helps support Chicago area organizations such as
Horizons for Youth, a nonprofit that provides mentoring, tutoring, family counseling for underprivileged children.
In addition, Notre Dame announced an endowed scholarship in Declan’s name and erected a marker near the LaBar Football Practice Fields. The memorial includes a rock with a plaque that features a shamrock and Declan’s initials. It’s the same spot the Sullivans used to meet Declan on campus.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/spor...7b9df8-504a-11e2-835b-02f92c0daa43_story.html
