Vermont snowmobile crash kills E. Patchogue teacher
Kristen Bednar, left, was killed in a snowmobile accident in Vermont. The Long Island schoolteacher was pronounced dead on New Year's Eve. Credit: Handout
A Long Island physical-education teacher and avid sportswoman who was visiting with family in Vermont died after she crashed into a tree while snowmobiling, authorities said.
Kristen T. Bednar, 30, of East Patchogue, received severe head injuries after she lost control of the sled on Wednesday just after midnight, said Senior Trooper Gary Salvatore of the Vermont State Police.
She was pronounced dead on Thursday at about 6 p.m., and her organs were harvested because she was a donor, he said.
Her father, Peter Blum, said his daughter was an avid athlete who taught physical education in the Massapequa schools at Birch Lane Elementary and enjoyed surfing, volleyball and more. She also skied and mountain-climbed, traversing the canopies of jungles in Costa Rica, her mother, Janet Blum, said.
Bednar and her husband, Michael Bednar, participated in a charity that took autistic children surfing off Smith Point, her mother said.
"All the kids were crazy about her," said Janet Blum, of Islip Terrace.
"She would have been a great mom," said Peter Blum, who rushed to his daughter's aid when he heard about the crash.
Kristen Bednar was killed in a snowmobile accident in Vermont.
Bednar was in Vermont, as she was each year as the family gathered to celebrate New Year's together.
"It was just a fluke accident," said her father, who was a Nassau police officer and detective for 25 years.
Salvatore said speed may have been a factor in the crash.
At the time of the crash, Bednar wasn't wearing adequate head protection, Salvatore said. He said she wore a snowboarding helmet and not a more protective helmet specially made for snowmobiling.
He said it appears Bednar, who was operating the 2002 Yamaha, had been trying to avoid a ravine in the middle of the trail just before the crash.
"She couldn't negotiate the turn," Salvatore said. He added: "It looks like she skipped off the side of the trail and crashed into a tree."
The crash happened in West Windsor, in southern Vermont, police said.
Bednar was airlifted to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H., the region's closest trauma facility, where she died, police said.
On the job, Peter Blum said he'd notified many families that their loved ones had passed away. "It's strange, all the notifications that we've done. Now to be talking about my own child," he said. "I've never cried so much in my life. . . . It's indescribable."
'We had absolutely no idea what happened to her' What began as a desperate hunt for Shannan Gilbert in the marshes near Gilgo Beach became, in three astonishing days in December 2010, the unmasking of a possible serial killer. NewsdayTV's Doug Geed has more.
'We had absolutely no idea what happened to her' What began as a desperate hunt for Shannan Gilbert in the marshes near Gilgo Beach became, in three astonishing days in December 2010, the unmasking of a possible serial killer. NewsdayTV's Doug Geed has more.
