Student hurt in skateboard crash in good condition

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September 4, 2009

By Jonathan L'Ecuyer The Gloucester Daily Times Fri Sep 04, 2009, 05:49 AM EDT

ROCKPORT — The Rockport boy who collided with a vehicle while riding his skateboard on Wednesday afternoon was still recovering in a Boston hospital yesterday.

The boy — identified by police as Jelson Ryan, 13 — was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital by an emergency medical flight around 3 p.m. Wednesday after he collided with a moving vehicle on Pleasant Street at the intersection of Spring Lane while riding his skateboard home from school. Ryan was approximately 2/10 of a mile away from his High Street Court home when the collision occurred.

A Massachusetts General Hospital spokeswoman said yesterday that he was listed in "good" condition.

The eighth-grader was said to have broken his femur (thigh) bone and perhaps his tibia (shin) bone, but police Sgt. Timothy Frithsen stated that the youth was conscious throughout the ordeal.

"He had a helmet on, thank God for that," Frithsen said. "We're thinking his backpack may have prevented worse injuries because all the books inside (most likely padded) his fall."

A field hockey practice taking place on the field behind the school complex on Jerden's Lane was halted so the MedFlight helicopter could land.

Ryan collided with a vehicle driven by a Woodbury Lane woman traveling on Pleasant Street after visiting a nearby cemetery, police said.

"She was pretty shaken up," Frithsen said, though he added that the vehicle did not sustain significant damage as a result of the crash.

Pleasant Street is one of approximately 45 Rockport roadways on which skateboarding is prohibited; however, skateboarding is allowed on Spring Lane.

Some residents have recently raised concerns that the town's skateboard park, adjacent to Evans Field, is in disarray and does not have proper safety fencing.

Frithsen, however, noted that the town's skateboarding regulations aren't in place to limit kids' activities, but are based on some basic and legitimate safety issues.

"The reason the town has regulations on skateboards is because they don't have brakes," Frithsen said.

Jonathan L'Ecuyer can be reached at jlecuyer@gloucestertimes.com.