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Friends hold vigil for teen injured while skateboarding along SUV

On behalf of Terence Gross of Gross & Schuster, P.A. posted in Car Accidents on Wednesday, August 10, 2011.

There’s a famous scene in “Back to the Future” in which Michael J. Fox grabs the back end of a pickup truck while riding his skateboard. His character is late for school, and it’s played for laughs. But attempting that in real life is incredibly dangerous, as a Florida community recently learned.

A car accident in which a teenager was run over by an SUV driven by a friend was honored by family and friends with a candlelight vigil recently. About 100 people gathered on the hospital grounds under the teen’s room to send up prayers and good wishes to the injured teen and his family.

The accident happened when the teen, who was an enthusiastic skateboarder, was holding on to the side of a friend’s SUV and was accidentally run over by the vehicle. He suffered traumatic brain damage in addition to severe internal injuries and was transported to an area medical center for emergency treatment. Sadly, doctors examining the teen later pronounced him brain dead.

The 15-year-old would have been a junior this year at his local high school.

Friends recalled the teen as being a free spirit with a pleasant smile and who was also very good on a skateboard. They said he loved long boarding and liked to cruise on the long skateboards. It’s not clear when a decision about whether or not to remove the boy from life support systems will be made.

Police statements about the accident included reminders to teens that they should not be riding on the roadway. An investigation into the tragedy is still underway, but police do not believe that alcohol use was a factor.

Source: WJHG, “Update: Candlelight vigil held for local teen,” Amber Southard, July 31, 2011

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