Joshua Shane

My son Joshua was a sustainability major at Arizona State University (ASU) and participated as one of 20 students in a four-week study abroad program in Thailand in 2012. Joshua was not your typical 21-year-old who did not know what he wanted to do with his future. He had been passionate about environmental studies for years, had worked on his passion and was busy preparing for his future.

We chose Arizona State University (ASU) because they offered a degree in sustainability. In college, Joshua served as President of the ASU chapter of Oxfam America. In July 2010, Joshua was chosen to go to Boston to receive extra Oxfam America leadership training. He was a leader and took on all the responsibilities that came with that position. Traveling to Thailand to continue his sustainability studies with ASU would have been great for his continued growth and his resume. Little did we know how the trip would end.

The day that Joshua died, he was in his room working on his studies when he received a phone call from his fellow students, inviting him to join them on the beach. Once Joshua arrived at the beach, he saw four students in the water were caught in a riptide and were yelling for help. Joshua entered the water in order to help them. When two of the students were able to make it to shore, one of them went for help. The help that came was able to pull out the other two swimmers, but they did not realize Joshua had also entered the water and by that time, had been pulled into the riptide. Joshua was the only one that did not make it out. Joshua’s death was on June 12, 2012.

Losing a loved one like Joshua changes who you are. We have come to the realization that our family will never be complete without him and there will never be an occasion that is complete without him. His dreams and goals he had are lost, and we lost them with him.

After it happened, no one from ASU called me to tell me what had happened to my son. I had to call the U.S. Embassy in Thailand to find out Joshua’s death was true. They gave me the accompanying ASU professor’s contact information and the first words out of his mouth when I called him were, “Joshua was doing something we told him not to do . . .” At the time I had no reason not to believe him, until the students that were with Joshua came forward and told me that Joshua only entered the water to help save their lives. ASU had a spokesperson, and we didn’t.

I expected ASU to tell the students going on this trip that drowning was the leading cause of death, but they did not. I expected them to explain the danger of the beaches, but they did not. When I later asked to see the packet of safety information they gave to students pre-departure, they also refused. We want ASU to give us answers.

ASU met with us in August but refused to talk about Joshua's death or any of the circumstances surrounding it. They wanted to talk about how much Joshua loved ASU and what he did on campus. They all acted surprised that we wanted to talk about the circumstances and questions surrounding Joshua's death.  Keep in mind that none of the people we met with had ever even met with Joshua.
Horrifically, there have been many other deaths on that beach. Between May 18th - June 12th, the day of Joshua's death, there were at least 7 reported drownings in or near Phuket that were monsoon and/ or rip-current related. The students that were on the trip with Joshua were never told of these deaths.
ClearCause gave me a place to focus. In Joshua’s case, there was no investigation, no legal rights for us and no legal ramifications for ASU. As I told my attorney: it is not about suing ASU for money, it is about bringing about changes in their programs to protect students. ClearCause has done the groundwork to get oversight, accountability, and transparency for students nationwide. This is it. We have to do something to prevent what happened to Joshua and our family from happening to another student and their family.


Mindy Shane, Joshua’s mother

View the Wrongful Death Lawsuit. 
View the Receipt of Filing.