SHELBURNE — Just before dawn Memorial Day, Ursula Snow, a 13-year-old Shelburne resident, died after suffering a brain injury from an off-road vehicle accident in New Hampshire.
Snow remained in a coma until her death at 4 a.m. on Monday morning.
Among a wealth of friends and family, Snow leaves behind her mother, Pamela M. Snow, who she lived with in Shelburne.
The accident occurred May 12 at 1:50 p.m. when a 49-year-old driver not related to Snow was operating an off-road vehicle with the teenager riding as a passenger, according to a statement by the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department. As the driver rode along a sloped section of lawn, the vehicle rolled onto its side, pinning Snow under the automobile. Family and friends lifted the vehicle off the 13-year-old and called emergency services, who responded to the scene.
Snow was airlifted to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Hospital, where she was treated for a brain injury in the institution’s trauma unit, her uncle Stephen Snow wrote on an online fundraising page that intended to raise money for her treatment.
The community has rallied around Snow since the accident, with over 400 people contributing to the online fundraising site as of Tuesday afternoon, raising nearly $34,000.
Snow was enrolled in seventh grade at Four Rivers Charter School at the time of her death. She attended Greenfield Center School as an elementary student.
Four Rivers Charter School Principal Peter Garbus informed families of Snow’s death in a Monday email.
“We are devastated to lose such an incredible young woman,” he wrote.
Garbus also offered students some services for support. He said grade-level teams were to meet Tuesday to tell students about Snow’s death and let them know administrators and a grief counselor would be available during the day.
Information about memorial services would be forthcoming, Garbus wrote.
“Losing a young person hits so deep,” Garbus wrote in a statement to The Recorder. “Her potential, what she could have accomplished for herself and our world, her spirit and energy — her family and all of us miss out on who Ursula might have become. With such terrible loss, we also look forward with gratitude. We appreciate who she was, we are thankful she was a part of our lives, and we hope to carry forward her memory and legacy.”
Reach Grace Bird at gbird@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 280.