A Burlington,Ontario 16-year-old is comatose and in critical condition with severe head injuries after a video stunt gone terribly wrong.He was badly injured in a secluded church lot near his high school Tuesday while car-boarding – a dangerous YouTube stunt in which teens film themselves being towed behind vehicles on skateboards and sleds.
His 17-year-old friend has been charged with dangerous operation of a vehicle causing bodily harm and criminal negligence causing bodily harm.
The crash happened as a group of teens stood cheering while the stunt was recorded on a cellphone video camera.
Yesterday, Robert Bateman High School students said the group built a sled out of two snowboards glued to a flying saucer toboggan and tried it out earlier that day.
They filmed it and showed the cellphone video to the boy, who agreed to try the stunt.
"The first time they did it, they were going 30 kilometres an hour," said a student.
"The second time, they were going 60 kilometres with (the boy)."
Around 1 p.m. Tuesday, four friends jumped into the car while the teen, wearing a motorcycle helmet and gloves, hopped onto the sled.
"They did four laps of the church parking lot," said Halton police spokesman Sgt. Brian Carr.
On the fourth lap, the tow rope ripped off the sled and the teen was thrown into a line of trees.
The video shows the moment the boy hurtles away, but not the impact.
The other teens picked up the unconscious boy and drove him to hospital.
On a Facebook page set up in support of the boy, the teen's family says he is in bad shape in Hamilton General Hospital's intensive care unit.
"This is his sister," the entry says.
"For all of you that are concerned, this is the newest update. His brain is badly bruised because it was shaken so badly."
"With the first 72 hours, this causes swelling of the brain which is life-threatening."
"He is stable now and still in a coma. All the doctors can do now is monitor the swelling and pray for the best. ... His injuries are extremely severe."
Yesterday, police said teens need to realize such stunts are fraught with peril.
Car-boarding "is not a major problem in Halton," Carr said.
"But it's dangerous. There is no other way of describing it. It's a dangerous event and we advise not to do it."
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