FORT WORTH - A 17-year-old man was critically injured Sunday when he fell from his skateboard while being pulled behind a pickup.
Daniel Roberts suffered bleeding and swelling of the brain and was in critical condition Monday at Harris Methodist Fort Worth hospital.
The accident happened about 5:30 p.m. as Roberts held on to the tailgate of a friend's 2002 Ford F150 pickup traveling east in the 900 block of Grand National Boulevard, Sgt. Don Hanlon said.
Roberts lost his balance and fell from the skateboard, striking his head on the roadway, Hanlon said.
A friend who had been traveling behind Roberts on his bicycle and an off-duty Hurst officer who lived nearby witnessed the accident, Hanlon said. The officer ran over to assist the teen-ager, who was unconscious and non-responsive, according to a police report.
Hanlon said the unit will investigate the accident to determine if criminal charges will be brought against the 20-year-old driver of the pickup.
"The fact that the victim is in critical condition illustrates how dangerous this is," Hanlon said. "The witness believed they were only doing like 5 miles per hour. There just isn't any safe speed to be pulling a skateboarder behind a vehicle."
According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, more than 104,000 persons were treated in hospital emergency rooms in 2001 for with skateboard-related injuries. Sprains, fractures, contusions and abrasions were the most common type, although deaths because of collisions with cars and falls were also reported.
Roberts' sister said her brother, a home-schooled senior, rode skateboards off and on but, to her knowledge, had never ridden behind a vehicle before.
"I don't think he'd done that before -- just an invincible teenager," she said.
The woman urged other teens to wear a helmet at all times and to never ride behind a moving vehicle.
Mon. June 20, 2005
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I LOVE YOU DANIEL FOREVER!!!!!
