Game of hide-and-seek leads to ghastly death of a 14-year-old on Texas Tech campus
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A 14-year-old has died after impaling himself on the horn of a bull statue during a game of hide-and-seek on the Texas Tech University campus in Lubbock, Texas, according to a report from the NBC affiliate in the Dallas-Fort Worth area (via Big Lead).
"There are hundreds of scenarios that could have happened," Marenda Podhorksy told NBCDFW.com. While she was reportedly one of two adults present when Miguel Martinez died soon after midnight on Saturday morning, Podhorsky did not see how it happened. Her son and Martinez, 14, were visiting another friend, Jeremy Warren.
"Maybe we shouldn't have been out that late," the woman added in the report. "It was pure accident. We'd been playing for like an hour."
It's believed Martinez tripped on a light fixture amid the gravel surrounding the statue.
"He just happened to trip over one of the lights," Martinez' mother, Judith Leseburg, told Lubbock's KBCD-TV. "It's hard for all of us. No mother expects this to happen to their child."
Added Warren: "I just laid there beside him. I put my jacket over him and just held him tight and told him I loved him. He was like a big brother to me."
While Podhorsky's boyfriend -- the other adult present at the time -- reportedly called 911, Martinez could not be revived. University police are investigating the incident.
Meanwhile, Texas Tech spokesman Chris Cook released the following statement: ""Anytime unforeseen accidents occur, we review our policies, practices, and even our facilities to determine if any changes are needed to avoid similar events in the future."
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