British schoolboy, 14, dies in horror skiing accident during a half-term family holiday in northern Italy
A BRITISH schoolboy, 14, has died in a skiing accident while on a half-term holiday with his family in northern Italy.
Despite the teen wearing a helmet, he is said to have tragically suffered severe chest injuries after losing control on the slopes and crashing into a tree.
Paramedics desperately fought to save the 14-year-old for over half an hour using a defibrillator, but he was tragically pronounced dead at the scene.
The tragedy occurred on Falzarego red run, a slope spanning 3.5km from Lagazuoi toward Col Gallina.
Witnesses claim that the boy had built up significant speed before hitting a dip that launched him forward with no control.
He then went crashing into a tree at high impact in the horror accident.
Francesco Cataldo Giorgi, vice president of the Happy Ski school in Cortina, told Corriere del Veneto: “Had he fallen just a few metres earlier or later, he may have escaped unharmed.
“But in this sport, one wrong fall in the wrong place can be fatal.
“We must always exercise extreme caution.”
The family had been on their half-term holiday in the Bolzano region alongside two other families.
They had only just begun their day on the slopes when the tragic accident occurred at around 9:30AM.
The teen’s parents are receiving medical and psychological support following the unimaginable ordeal, as they face the tragic task of repatriating their son’s body back to the UK.
Investigators are now working to determine whether any previously unknown or unnoticed dangers are on the slope that could have played a role in the accident.
It comes after a young Brit was found dead at the foot of a cliff at a popular ski resort in the French Alps.
The lifeless body of the 23-year-old, who has not been publicly named, was found on Monday morning in Avoriaz, which sits on a shelf above the town of Morzine.
A local police spokesman told The Sun: “The deceased is an English national who is thought to have been skiing on Sunday evening. His family have been informed.”
It’s understood the man had been skiing with pals on Sunday before partying at popular apres ski spot La Folie Douce in Avoriaz.
It’s thought he then decided to ski down the mountainside alone and got lost.
Friends raised the alarm when he didn’t return to his accommodation.
Search and rescue teams scoured the area for the Brit before discovering his body the following day.
Police believe he may have taken a wrong turn, realised he was in trouble and took his skis off before plunging to his death.
The body of the victim was initially evacuated by helicopter, before being declared dead by emergency workers.
Local prosecutors and judicial police have opened an inquiry “to determine the cause of death,” said the source.