Boy, 14, dies in skiing accident on family holiday after smashing into tree on red slope in Italy

Although the boy was wearing a helmet, paramedics’ efforts to revive him for a half an hour were unsuccessful as he had sustained a traumatic chest injury, according to Italian media reports. His parents were on the scene as medics with a defibrillator battled to save the boy’s life for at least 30 minutes, local media reported.

According to witnesses, the teen was skiing on the Falzarego intermediate red run, a 15-minute descent from 2,732 metres to 2,105 metres for about 3.5km from Lagazuoi toward Col Gallina. He picked up considerable speed and went into a dip, which propelled him with additional momentum, witnesses said, causing him to lose control and crash into a tree on the side of the run.

Francesco Cataldo Giorgi, vice president of the Happy Ski school in Cortina told the Corriere del Veneto: “It was very bad luck. If he had fallen a few metres before or after nothing would have happened. Unfortunately in this sport, all it takes is one fall in the wrong place and you can lose your life. We have to be careful.”

The family was on a half-term holiday in the Bolzano area with two other families and members of the group had just been starting the day of skiing when the accident occurred at 9.30am. A medical and psychological support team are assisting the parents, who witnessed the drama and are now working to bring their son’s body back to the UK.