Mt. Bachelor.Photo: Andrew Selsky/AP/Shutterstock
A 9-year-old boy on a family trip to Oregon’s Mt. Bachelor died following an accident near the mountain’s summit.
Brecken Boice was skiing with a helmet when he was injured in an accident and airlifted to the hospital on Saturday afternoon, theBend Bulletinreported.
The fourth-grader from Tacoma, Washington underwent brain surgery at St. Charles Medical Center in Bend, but did not survive, said Chris Gavin, principal at Saint Patrick Catholic School.
“Brecken Boice was in a terrible accident on Saturday and did not survive the brain surgery,” Gavin said in astatement. “Brecken was a beautiful boy. I simply don’t have the wisdom to understand his passing nor the words to comfort his parents.”
The statement included a quote from Brecken’s mother Angela, who wrote, “I prayed for a miracle and then realized Brecken was our miracle. He brought so much joy to our lives.”
Mt. Bachelor officials, who did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment, said the accident was not related to a tree well, which is a hidden cavity of deep snow under a tree’s branches.
Skiiers and snowboarders also visiting the area on Saturday said the conditions were particularly rough, with snowboarder Peter Kendrick even calling them “objectively dangerous.”
AGoFundMe collecting moneyfor Brecken’s family has so far raised more than $50,000 for the boy whom organizers said brought “so much light into the lives of those around him.”
The grade-schooler’s friends also offered tributes on the page, with one pal named Jacob remembering his sense of humor.
“Brecken helped us. He was funny and made us smile,” Jacob wrote. “He loves ’80s rock and Taco Tuesday. I bet he is a stand-up comedian now. He always has the best jokes.”
According to theBulletin, three other people have died at Mt. Bachelor since 2018, including two people who were killed in tree wells on the same day in 2018.
source: people.com
