British teenager Bethany Smith dies falling from SY Germania Nova

Yotspot is sad to learn of the news that a British teenager has died after reportedly falling from the mast she was working on while onboard SY Germania Nova. 

The 18 year old is thought to have died from her injuries in hospital. The accident occured on board 60 meter Germania Nova, a Schooner that was berthed in Jamaica.

Local newspaper The Jamaica Observer reports that Bethany was “cleaning the mast of the vessel when the ropes became undone and she fell onto the deck”. This was also echod in a GoFundMe page set up to help her family which says she “fell off the mast” of the yacht on Tuesday.

The Deckhand orignally from Denbigshire in North Wales left the UK a decade ago to sail around the world with her family on their yacht. Bethany had been on SY Germania Nova for more than a year.

The GoFundMe page describes Beth as “a generous person” and “a ray of sunshine who brought laughter and music into the lives of those she met”. The page has raised more than £10,900 for her family to help them “meet the major ex[pensises resulting from this tragic event”:

“Bethany passed away in Jamaica. Bethany’s father, Dave, is working in the Netherlands. Her mother, Sarah, is in Trinidad and her brother, Bryn, is in Antigua. The costs of air fares, food and lodging to reunite the family on such short notice are staggering. In addition the family will incur the costs of burial. This family has suffered an unspeakable loss. This fund will help alleviate a portion of their financial stress, so they don’t have to worry about the costs of being together to lay Bethany to rest.”

Here is a link to the GoFundMe page: https://www.gofundme.com/the-bethany-smith-memorial-fund

A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We are in contact with the authorities in Jamaica following the death of a British national in Portland and are supporting their family at this very difficult time.”