A New York teenager has died in a jet ski accident while on a family vacation in Florida.
Rachel Aliza Nisanov, 13, was riding on a jet ski with her sister on Tuesday in the Intracoastal Waterway in Fort Lauderdale when their watercraft crashed, according to her family and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).
The FWC preliminary report said the watercraft operated by the teens lost control and collided with a concrete dock.
Fort Lauderdale Fire and Rescue said 911 calls came in around 3:30 p.m., reporting the water accident near the 2800 block of NE 24th Court. Both girls were transported to Broward Health Medical Center, where Rachel died from her injuries.
The 16-year-old sister, Aviva Bracha Nisanov, who was driving the jet ski, remains in critical but stable condition, NBC Miami reported.
The family trip to Florida was to celebrate Rachel’s graduation, her brother Yonah Nisanov told the affiliate. He remembered his sister as “just a kind person … A spiritual person. Kindhearted, always going the extra mile.”
“They were coming back to the dock from what I understand, and they lost control and they hit the dock, and they both went flying and hit the dock,” Yonah said.
Yonah recalled that their father — Shlomo Nisanov, a well-known rabbi in New York — was also on a personal watercraft at the time of the crash. After seeing the accident, he jumped into the water, desperately trying to save his girls.
“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 and my father jumped in and scraped up his hands, feet, his back all over to save them, and he did what he could and thank God one of them was able to, and the other one, unfortunately didn’t make it,” Yonah said.
“And we don’t understand why it happened, but we believe that this is what’s meant to be, and God is gonna give us the strength to go forward and to strengthen ourselves,” he added.
Rachel’s body was flown to New York, where a funeral will be held on Thursday before her body is flown to Israel and buried in Jerusalem.
The owner of the watercraft company involved said the sisters, their parents, and a supervising employee were on a watercraft when the incident happened.
The owner told NBC Miami that while Florida law requires a person to be at least 14 years old to operate a watercraft, he needs a driver to be at least 16 years old, like Aviva.
Fort Lauderdale Police and the FWC are investigating the crash.
The post NY teen killed in jet ski accident in Florida while on family vacation appeared first on NBC News.
