A teen dancer is currently in a coma after falling from the roof of a moving vehicle while “car surfing.”
According to local news station Fox 13, the teen has been identified as Cyprus High School sophomore, Ava Broadhead, in Magna, Utah. Law enforcement stated that while at a nearby park on Wednesday, Sept. 11, the teen was “car surfing” when she was thrown from the vehicle.
“The victim was on top of that car and as the car was driving around,” Unified Police Sgt. Aymee Race shared. “The victim fell off and unfortunately, pavement isn’t as forgiving and the victim hit their head.”
Following the “car surfing” accident, the teen was rushed to Primary Children’s Hospital with severe brain trauma and is now in a medically-induced coma.
Race also explained what “car surfing” actually is. “That can be anywhere from kids hanging on the tops of cars to the back of cars standing up through their windows,” Race said. “And then going either at so rates of speed or high rates of speed on these vehicles.”
Race then said that the trend has “picked up” significantly. “Unfortunately, with social media, there’s ebbs and flows to these types of trends and right now this trend has been picking up,” Race continued. “I mean, it stems from the eighties and movies to 10 years ago, this was a significant trend and now here we are again with this trend picking up.”
The Teen’s Mother Speaks Out About The Accident
Ava’s mother, Kandis Broadhead,said the sophomore was supposed to be walking in the homecoming parade that day. However, outdoor condition caused the parade to be postponed.
“The parade was canceled because of the bad air quality and so these kids were all ready to go out and have a good time,” the teen’s mother explained. “They decided to do the trend that’s seen on, I don’t believe it’s seen on TikTok anymore, but you can search it up other places called car surfing.”
Later that evening, Ava’s mother said she received a phone call from the teen’s friends, telling her what had happened. They said she was rushed to Primary Children’s Hospital.
“She had an extreme brain injury and she needed to be rushed into brain surgery,” the teen’s mother shared. “And it was a life-or-death surgery.”
She revealed her daughter is in extremely critical condition. “She is in a medical induced coma, just staying stable, letting her brain rest.”
Ava’s mother stated she was devasted by what happened. “I can’t imagine a future with Ava not being Ava,” she said. “It will take months if not years to, to recover from it.”
She then added others have reached out to her about the “car surfing” trend. “I’m hearing that it’s actually happening and they’re having the same traumatic brain injuries,” she added. “And it’s changing their courses of their lives.”
Ava’s friends and family have started a GoFundMe to help cover the medical expenses. The fundraiser has so far raised over $6,000.