Older sister in Fort Lauderdale personal watercraft crash continues to recover
The 16-year-old girl who was seriously injured in a personal watercraft crash in the Intracoastal Waterway in Fort Lauderdale last Tuesday that killed her younger sister continues road to recovery and is now in stable condition, hospital officials say.
Aviva Bracha Nisanov was taken to Broward Medical Center in critical condition after the watercraft that she and her sister were on slammed into a concrete dock near the 2800 block of Northeast 24th Court. Her sister, 13-year-old Rachel Aliza Nisanov, was killed in the crash.
The Broward Office of Medical Examiner and Trauma Services told the Herald on Monday that the cause of Rachel’s death was “blunt force injuries” with the manner as “accident.”
READ MORE: New York rabbi tries to save daughters in Lauderdale watercraft crash. One dies
Lineth Fernandez, Broward Health spokeswoman, confirmed Monday afternoon that Aviva’s condition has stabilized from critical, but she remains in the hospital.
Rachel’s family held her funeral last Wednesday at the Bukharian Jewish Community Center in Queens, New York. Her body was then flown to Israel to be buried in Jerusalem.
The girls were visiting South Florida last week on a vacation from New York with their parents, Rabbi Shlomo Nisanov and Rebbitzin Ora Nisanov, who are prominent in Queens’ Bukharian Jewish community.
The parents were on another watercraft when the crash happened, and Rabbi Nisanov, who doesn’t know how to swim, jumped in the water to try saving his daughters, his son told reporters last week.
READ MORE: Sisters in Fort Lauderdale personal watercraft crash were on a guided tour: FWC
The family was on a personal watercraft tour when the crash happened, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the state police agency leading the investigation.
The girls’ watercraft “jumped the wake of a passing vessel, lost control, and collided with a concrete dock,” the FWC said in a statement last week.
