Two teenage girls were injured, one fatally, in separate sleigh accidents on the same hill in Ohio, the two families said on Saturday.
Natalie Wilson, 17, has been hospitalized since Sunday night after she crashed on the Hinckley reserve in Medina County, said her father, Jim Wilson. She was partially paralyzed after suffering a fracture in her T5 and T6 spinal vertebrae, seriously damaging her spinal cord and breaking six ribs.
Wilson said in a telephone interview that his daughter and a friend “were making one last trip down the hill before going home” when the sleigh veered off course into a line of trees.
He said his family had visited the park “many, many times” and it was his daughter’s second time this year.
“It’s basically where we go when we want to go sledding,” he said.
According to Wilson, the hill can sometimes get cold, causing the sleds to go very fast. He said that was what happened on the day of the daughter’s accident.
“They were both on the sled,” he said. “So what basically happened is that they spun out of control towards the bottom of the hill. Her friend was ejected from there … and my daughter probably hit a tree.”
Wilson said he received a call from his daughter just before 9:30 pm, saying that she had been injured.
She was taken to MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland, according to a GoFundMe page created to help with medical expenses. The account raised more than $ 16,000.
Jim Wilson said his daughter will likely be hospitalized for at least several weeks, but is progressing slowly.
“Natalie felt a tingling in her legs and the doctor felt a slight movement of her toe!” he wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday. “Praise be to Almighty God. I’m going to endure ‘tingling’ now !!! I needed it now as you wouldn’t believe it.”
The day before Natalie’s accident, Eirelyn Zuercher, 14, was involved in an accident on the same hill. She was put on a life support device on February 20 after suffering “a damaging brain injury,” her mother said in a Facebook post.
“Eirelyn is currently on life support devices to maintain life long enough to find organ donor recipients. I was told it could take up to three days, ”wrote Katie Dougherty Zuercher. “Waiting for the inevitable end is emotional and exhausting, but my hope is that some terrible days for my family will mean a better future for other families that will benefit from their healthy organs.”
Eirelyn was withdrawn from life support on Wednesday night and died of her injuries. Her mother said she was able to donate organs to five people.
To add to the family’s tragedy, Eirelyn’s father suffered a massive heart attack the day she was hospitalized, from which he did not recover.
“Her father went up to the sky just before her, just as he reached the finish line first in all the Mario Kart games they played together. She used to wait on the front porch for him to arrive from work to greet him with the biggest hug even before he managed to enter the house. I imagine he is waiting for her now with the same anxiety “, wrote Dougherty Zuercher.
Dougherty Zuercher was not found immediately on Saturday.
Wilson said he initially shared his story to provide updates about his daughter to family and friends and never expected a show of support for strangers.
He now expects the Hinckley Reserve to make upgrades on his hill and put up barriers that prevent the sleds from deflecting from the sides.
The Cleveland Metroparks, which operates the reserve, and the Hinckley Township Police Department could not be reached on Saturday.
Park officials told the Akron Beacon Journal in a statement: “Our thoughts are with families affected by the sledging incidents that occurred over the weekend. We are investigating the incidents and circumstances surrounding these tragic events.”
