adminOREM, Utah. — Relatives of a 6-year-old Utah girl who died after her father accidentally struck her with a golf ball are remembering her as a loving, playful child.
Aria Hill’s uncle David Smith described her as a happy child who greeted strangers and enjoyed spending time with her parents.
Smith said she went golfing often with her father and that it was one of their favourite activities to do together.
Police say the ball struck Hill in the back of the head on Monday morning, while the father and daughter were out golfing with Hill’s uncle, Brayden Hill, at Sleepy Ridge Golf Course in Orem about 65 kilometres south of Salt Lake City.
“A complete, fluke accident — you couldn’t repeat it if you tried,” Smith told KUTV in Salt Lake City.
“She just happened to be in the exact wrong place, just directly across from him, when it happened.”
The ball hit the base of her neck. Lt. Trent Colledge of the Orem Police Department says she was flown to a hospital in Salt Lake City in critical condition and later died from her injuries. — AP.
Bongani Ndlovu