A 16-year-old was killed and her three-year-old cousin was injured in a sledding accident in upstate New York in which the sled collided with a tree at the bottom of a hill.
Renee Hill was enjoying the snow with her cousins in Lewiston, New York, when she realized she and her young cousin were about to crash into a tree, according to her family.
“She had gone down the hill,” her mother, Alexis Kraft, told WKBW-TV. “She had my three-year-old nephew on with her. She saw the tree coming. Her first instinct was to put her foot down and flip the sled so my nephew wouldn’t get hurt. She hit the tree.”
The tragic accident took place shortly after 10:00 a.m. Saturday, when the Niagara County Sheriff’s Office responded to reports of an accident at a local park’s sledding hill, the Niagara County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
“The two were apparently riding a sledding tube when they struck a tree at the bottom of the hill,” the statement said. Fire and ambulance rendered aid, but the girl could not be saved.
Both children were taken by ambulance to a hospital in Buffalo for treatment, where the 16-year-old was pronounced dead due to the severity of her injuries. The three-year-old was treated and released.
The Lewiston Police Department and the Niagara County Sheriff’s Office are investigating the incident, and the sledding hill remained closed Sunday “until further notice due to hazardous conditions,” the Buffalo News reported.