A 15-year-old from Utah is fighting for her life in a hospital after suffering from head trauma Wednesday in a car surfing incident, FOX 13 News reported.
Ava Broadhead was supposed to be at a homecoming parade but the event was cancelled. The teenager allegedly engaged in car surfing, a popular trend on social media, Kandis, the mother of Ava, told the local outlet.
“She had an extreme brain injury and she needed to be rushed into brain surgery and it was a life-or-death surgery,” Kandis told FOX 13 News about her daughter’s condition. “She is in a medical induced coma, just staying stable, letting her brain rest.” (RELATED: Mother Accidentally Runs Over Daughter After Middle School Drop-Off)
“The victim [Ava] was on top of that car and as the car was driving around, the victim fell off and unfortunately, pavement isn’t as forgiving and the victim hit their head,” Sgt. Aymee Race of the Unified Police Department said.
Ava Broadhead was supposed to be getting ready to celebrate her high school homecoming this week. Instead, she is now in the hospital, fighting for her life, after a car surfing accident. https://t.co/zZtnFz63DI
— FOX 13 News Utah (@fox13) September 14, 2024
The officer told the outlet that car surfing is when “kids” hang out “on the tops of cars, to the back of cars, standing up through their windows” and then driving at various speeds. Race blamed social media for the popularity of the trend but said that “it stems from the eighties and movies to 10 years ago.”
Car surfing has led to many injuries and fatalities across the nation. A 16-year-old died in May 2023 in Colorado when his car flipped over while he was partaking in the dangerous trend, FOX 31 reported.
Michigan’s Macomb County Sheriff’s Office sounded the alarm about the fad back in July after they were alerted to three incidents of car surfing in their area, according to CBS Detroit.
For Ava’s mother, engaging in such activity robs the youth “of this beautiful experience of being a teenager all for a social media video,” she told FOX 13 News. As of Monday morning, People have raised over $6,000 to “cover the mounting medical expenses” for the Broadhead family, according to a GoFundMe page.
“Your generous donations will go directly toward her medical care and the resources needed to support her recovery. Any amount, no matter how small, will make a huge difference in Ava’s journey. If you are unable to contribute financially, we ask that you keep Ava in your prayers and share her story to raise awareness about the real dangers of car surfing,” the page said.