On Sunday, March 19, police reported that two Illinois high school athletes had died in a sledding accident.
The tragic incident occurred while Dylan Bazzell, 18, and Drew Fehr, 17, were on spring break vacation at the Copper Mountain Ski Resort in Colorado.
The boys’ sled reportedly overturned after falling off a snowbank at the bottom of a halfpipe at the resort, according to the Summit County Sheriff’s Office. The two suffered blunt force trauma after landing forcefully on the hard ice below, according to the Sheriff’s report.
Around 8:35 p.m., paramedics arrived and started performing CPR, but the two teenagers were pronounced dead at the scene.
Dylan Bazzell’s father was Darin Bazzell, a former basketball all-star and current high school basketball coach. Dylan was named to the first team of all-state basketball by the Associated Press.
Susan Fehr, Drew Fehr’s mother, works as a teacher for Prairie Central School District. Drew led the football team as captain.
Dustin Lyman, president and general manager of Copper Mountain Ski Resort, stated that the halfpipe where the accident occurred was closed at the time of the incident. He pleaded with resort visitors to heed the warnings and signs in order to avoid more tragic incidents.