By By Micheal Chukwuebuka
A 13-year-old girl from New York has died following a jet ski accident while on a family holiday in Florida.
Stonix News reliably gathered that Rachel Aliza Nisanov was riding a jet ski with her sister on Tuesday in the Intracoastal Waterway, Fort Lauderdale, when their watercraft crashed.
According to her family and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the jet ski lost control and struck a concrete dock.
Fort Lauderdale Fire and Rescue said emergency calls were received at around 3.30pm, reporting a watercraft collision near the 2800 block of NE 24th Court. Both sisters were taken to Broward Health Medical Centre, where Rachel succumbed to her injuries.
Her 16-year-old sister, Aviva Bracha Nisanov, who was operating the jet ski, remains in a critical but stable condition, according to our source.
The family had travelled to Florida to celebrate Rachel’s graduation, her brother, Yonah Nisanov, told the station. He described his sister as “a kind person … a spiritual person. Kind-hearted, always going the extra mile.”
“They were returning to the dock from what I understand, and they lost control and hit the dock. They both went flying and struck the dock,” he said.
Yonah recalled that their father, Rabbi Shlomo Nisanov, a well-known religious leader in New York, was also on a personal watercraft at the time of the collision. Upon witnessing the accident, he leapt into the water in an attempt to rescue his daughters.
“My father doesn’t even know how to swim. He jumped in; my sisters were unconscious, their life jackets were on, they were lying flat. My father jumped in and scraped his hands, feet and back all over to save them. He did what he could, and thank God one of them survived. Unfortunately, the other did not,” Yonah said.
“We don’t understand why it happened, but we believe this is what was meant to be, and God will give us the strength to carry on,” he added.
Rachel’s body has been flown to New York for a funeral on Thursday before being transported to Israel for burial in Jerusalem.
The owner of the watercraft company involved said the sisters, their parents and a supervising employee had been on personal watercraft at the time of the incident.
While Florida law permits individuals aged 14 and over to operate a personal watercraft, the company requires drivers to be at least 16, in line with Aviva’s age, the owner told our source.
Fort Lauderdale Police and the FWC are continuing to investigate the incident.
Source: NBC News
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