The first missionary fatality of 2015 has been recorded. On Friday January 16th, 2015, 20-year-old Elder Nathan Castle McBride collapsed during a ward soccer activity in Mexico and subsequently passed away. Elder McBride, who came from the Pasco Washington North Stake, had been serving in the Mexico Merida Mission since January 2014. A preliminary autopsy indicates that Elder McBride suffered a heart attack.
His father, Robert McBride, told media outlets that after a break in the game, Elder McBride was running to get the ball when he fell down and never got back up. Although other players performed CPR and paramedics tried to resuscitate him, he was pronounced dead at a hospital.
Elder McBride experienced no health problems and had been an active young man who loved hiking, fishing, pole vaulting and other sports. Missionaries are required to obtain extensive medical and dental exams before deployment. Elder McBride was described as a quiet leader, well disciplined, very driven and a perfectionist who once had considered retaking a CBC math class because his grade fell below his usual A’s. He amassed a 3.8 grade-point average when he got his associate degree from CBC, which was going to help him get into Brigham Young University as a transfer student after his mission. Although he had a passion for animals, as evidenced by his involvement in the 4-H program, Elder McBride wanted to become an orthopedic surgeon.
Elder McBride is survived by his parents, two siblings, grandparents Elaine and Bob McBride of Benton City and Fern and Alvin Harris of Pasco, and many aunts, uncles and cousins. Robert McBride said the family is working with the American Consulate to get his son’s body home and project the funeral to occur on January 24th.
A photo of Elder McBride and his companion, Elder Granilla of Puebla, Mexico, is available HERE. His name will now be added to my partial list of missionaries who gave their lives while on the Lord's errand.
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