Safety Precautions for Winter Activities
Amid a spike in sledding-related injuries in North Texas, local doctors and hospital officials urge residents to take precautionary measures when participating in winter activities.
Cook Children’s Health Care System treated more than 52 children for sledding-related trauma since the weekend, according to a statement released Monday.
Dr. Taylor Louden, medical director of emergency services at Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth, said the region’s current conditions are far more dangerous than typical soft snow.
“This is not snow that we have here in Texas; this is ice,” Louden said.
Breaking News
A man wrapped in a moving blanket crosses tracks covered in snow and ice after a DART rail train arrived at Akard Station downtown following a winter storm on Monday, Jan. 26, 2026, in Dallas.
Smiley N. Pool / Staff Photographer
Rise in Sledding-Related Injuries
Anna Suessman, with Medical City Children’s Hospital-Pediatric Emergency Medicine, said the emergency department saw a noticeable rise in snow- and ice‑related injuries.
Suessman said the cases the department treated children and adults for reflect common hazards that come with winter play, such as fractures from high‑impact collisions, facial injuries and chest bruises.
“Fortunately, many were able to return home the same day after evaluation and care,” Suessman said. “These cases serve as an important reminder that simple safety precautions can help keep winter fun from turning into an emergency.”
Ponder High School Senior Critically Injured
Ponder district officials said Tuesday that a Ponder High School student was critically injured during a sledding accident Monday.
Caden Nowicki, a senior at Ponder High School, is in critical condition in the intensive care unit, according to a statement from Ponder ISD.
Frisco Sledding Fatalities
On Sunday, 16-year-old Elizabeth Angle died from injuries caused by a sledding accident.
Elizabeth and Gracie Brito, 16, were being pulled on a sled by a teenage boy in a Jeep Wrangler when the sled struck a curb and collided with a tree, Frisco police said.
Gracie Brito died after being hospitalized in critical condition after the accident, Wakeland High School principal Donna Edge said Wednesday.
Elizabeth and Gracie were both sophomores at Wakeland.
Central Texas Sledding Injury, Arrest
On Monday, Brownwood Police Department issued a statement detailing the serious injuries of a 19-year-old girl while sledding in a parking lot on Sunday.
Investigators determined that Jayden Michael Garcia, 19, was driving his 2014 pickup in the parking lot and allowing people to sled behind it as he drove them, the statement said.
While pulling an unidentified 19-year-old girl, he lost control of his pickup, causing her to launch at a high speed underneath a parked vehicle. She was seriously injured, and as of Tuesday afternoon, her condition remained unknown.
Garcia was arrested and faces a charge of aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury, according to the statement.
Kaufman County Injury
An 18-year-old was injured Monday afternoon while riding a sled attached to an ATV, according to a statement from the Elmo Fire Department.
Fire officials responded to the accident on FM 2728 between U.S. Highway 80 and Interstate 20 around 5:30 p.m. after the girl, who was not identified, was struck by a piece of equipment while sledding.
She was transported to the hospital in a helicopter, the statement said. Her condition remains unknown.
Around the U.S.
Other regions are seeing a similar increase in winter activity- and weather-related injuries and deaths.
At least 35 deaths have been attributed to the storm nationwide, including two people run over by snowplows in Massachusetts and Ohio, and a woman whose body was found covered in snow in Kansas.
A 17-year-old boy in Arkansas died Saturday after the tube he was being pulled on by an all-terrain vehicle struck a tree, according to The Associated Press. His identity has not been publicly released.
In New York City, officials said eight people were found dead outdoors over the frigid weekend, AP reported.
Doctors, Medical Officials Urge Prioritizing Safety
Louden and Dr. Hilary Fairbrother, emergency medicine physician at UTHealth Houston, said the most serious injuries are head injuries.
Both doctors mentioned that injuries are often seen in kids 15 years or younger, with Cook Children’s having treated those as young as 2 years old over the weekend.
“When kids hit their heads on ice, it can cause catastrophic injuries,” Louden said. “Sledding can be dangerous.”
Suessman said doctors also attended to multiple slip‑and‑fall injuries, including ankle and wrist sprains, dental trauma, abrasions and lacerations. The department also saw an increase in asthma symptom flares due to the cold air, she said.
Children and adults with asthma or other breathing conditions should take extra care when spending time in cold air, Suessman said.
Dr. Nkeiruka Orajiaka, emergency medicine physician
