Eli and Shane Williams are doing well, 10 months after
the accident
PORT JERVIS – August 22, 2016 started out like any other summer day for the Williams family of Fallsburg.
Jennifer Williams is the principal at Ellenville Elementary School. Her husband, Simmie Williams, is Fallsburg town police chief.
While they were at work, their two sons, Shane, 13, and Eli, 6, took a ride on the family’s three-seat off-road ATV with their babysitter, but did not put on their helmets or seatbelts and as the babysitter rounded a curve too fast, the vehicle flipped over. Both boys sustained serious injuries, broken bones and friction burns resulting in the need for skin grafts.
They spent 17 days in Maria Farer Children’s Hospital on the campus of
Westchester Medical Center.
In the 10 months since then, the boys have made miraculous recoveries and their parents talked about it on Thursday while at Westchester Med’s sister hospital, Bon Secours Community Hospital in Port Jervis.
Mrs. Williams said the day of the accident began like any other day.
“It was a beautiful August, nice breeze, not too warm; I was doing what I do best. It was not the first time this babysitter had been with the boys; she had been with them all summer and we had no incidents, we had no issues,” she said. “I would leave, I would come back and I would thank her and we would go on with her day, but this day was like no other day for us.”
Noting the danger in riding on an ATV, Mr. Williams credited the doctors at Westchester Med and the man upstairs for saving their boys.
“I have always said it is tough to have a fender-bender on a motorcycle or ATV because there are not many fenders,” he said.
The family’s message to ATV riders of all ages – wear your helmet, buckle up and ride safely.
