A New York teen was killed after the watercraft her sister was driving crashed against the docks during a graduation trip in Florida — with her heartbroken father jumping into the water to desperately try to save them both.
Rachel Aliza Nisanov, 14, was celebrating her eight-grade graduation with a family getaway to Fort Lauderdale when she boarded a personal watercraft with her 16-year-old sister, Aviva, NBC 4 reported.
“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,” their brother, Yonah, recalled.
Their father, Rabbi Shlomo Nisanov, of Queen’s Bukharian Jewish community, was nearby on his own watercraft when he saw his girls fall into the water.
“My father doesn’t even know how to swim,” Yonah told the local outlet. “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. He did what he could,” the brother added.
The sisters were rushed to the Broward Health Medical Center, where Rachel had succumbed to her injuries.
Aviva was listed in critical condition and had undergone surgery late Tuesday night. She remained sedated on Wednesday, Yonah said.
The grieving brother described Rachel as a kind person who was “always going the extra mile” for others. He said Rachel was the one most excited about getting on the boat.
Rachel’s body was flown back to New York, with her funeral being held Wednesday night at the Bukharian Jewish Community Center, in Forest Hills.
Following the service, her body will be flown to Israel for a traditional burial in Jerusalem the following day, the center said.
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The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) said the cause of the crash remains under investigation.
The agency noted that at the time of the crash, three personal watercraft were operating in the Intracoastal Waterway “as part of a guided tour.”
During the tour, the sisters “jumped the wake of a passing vessel, lost control, and collided with a concrete dock,” the FWC said during its preliminary findings Tuesday evening.
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