HIGH school football player Caden Nowicki has died of his injuries after being thrown out of a makeshift sled in a horror crash.
The 17-year-old from Texas is the state’s third teen to die in just a matter of days after being blanketed by heavy snow and ice due to Winter Storm Fern.
Nowicki from Ponder, was a senior at Ponder High School and had been enjoying the snow on Monday with friends by riding inside a kayak that was being pulled by an ATV.
But the makeshift sled crashed off the road around 2:30pm throwing Nowicki out and launching him into a fence.
After being airlifted to hospital and placed in the ICU, the Texas Department of Public Safety confirmed that he died from his injuries on Thursday.
According to the DPS, the ATV driver, Jackson Long, 22, from Yukon, Oklahoma, was not injured in the crash.
His passenger 18-year-old Austin Erickson was also unharmed in the accident.
Authorities have said that the crash is still being investigated and it is not clear if any charges will be filed.
“With heavy hearts, our #44 Caden Nowicki crossed through the gates into our Heavenly Father[‘s] arms today,” Ponder football coach Marcus Schulz said on social media.
“We all know God hand-selected His inside linebacker.
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“Please continue to pray for the Nowicki family,” said Schulz. “Rest easy and fly high, #44.”
Nowicki’s death comes just days after Texan cheerleader Grace Brito, 16, and her soccer star best friend Elizabeth Angle were killed in a separate sledding crash in Frisco, just 35 miles away from Ponder.
The girls were in a sled being towed by a Jeep but ended up getting out of control and crashing into a tree.
Angle died shortly after the crash on January 25 and Brito was taken off life support on January 27, two days before Nowicki died from his injuries.
More to follow…
