Toward the west of Quebec, where the forested hills fold into pale winter light, a ski hill once shimmered with the promise of laughter and snow-tipped afternoons. Trees stood like ancient sentinels along the slopes of Centre Vorlage, and on crisp February days the chairlift whispered steadily skyward, carrying small flurries of joy toward the ridge. On one such afternoon, a school group from Ottawa set out for gentle turns and warm stories. Snowflakes drifted quietly, as though time itself wished to be soft.

But on February 11, an ordinary glide upward became a moment that bent toward tragedy. A 13-year-old girl, bundled in her winter gear and buoyed by the quiet buzz of youthful anticipation, was nearing the top of the chairlift when a piece of her clothing — the hood of her hoodie — became entangled in the mechanism. What should have been a simple dismount turned into a tethered suspension. Those moments stretched like shadows at dusk, where classmates watched and adults reached, and the forest seemed to hold its breath in stillness.

Rescuers gathered; a decision was made to bring her down the slope with the chairlift’s motion rather than attempt to disentangle her at the summit. At the bottom, where first responders waited with doctors who happened to be on the hill that day, the scene was met with urgent care. She was unresponsive when she arrived and was rushed to a nearby hospital before being transferred to the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario. For days her condition held families and friends in a fragile space between hope and fear, as blankets warmed snow-cold cheeks and voices murmured gentle encouragement within sterile rooms.

On Sunday, her family shared the news that no parent should ever have to announce: the bright spirit they loved, the laughter carried down backroads and school hallways, had slipped away. In their statement, they expressed gratitude for those who offered support and “heroic action to help save our precious child,” and they revealed that her organs had been lovingly donated, a final gift to others in need. The tenderness of their words seems suspended like quiet snow above the slopes she had once hoped to ski again. (Yahoo Berita)

Centre Vorlage, which had closed its lifts in the wake of the incident, shared its deep sorrow with the community and extended condolences to all who feel this loss. As the hill moves toward a gradual reopening, with its restaurant welcoming visitors and its trails inching back to life, the rhythm of winter returns just slightly, like the soft echo of a distant wind. (Yahoo Berita)

In Ottawa and beyond, school officials, friends, and neighbors have paused to remember a young life that moved through this world with warmth. Within the quiet halls of hospitals and the quiet breath of families holding shared sorrow, the need for careful reflection on safety, preparation, and compassion hangs in the same still air that once held only the promise of snow and bright early afternoons.

And so the chairlift, when it turns again, will carry others upward toward the sky, its gentle rotation a reminder of how swiftly moments can change — and how tenderly they are held in memory when they are gone.