FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — For the first time, the teenage survivor of a personal watercraft crash is speaking.
Aviva Nisanov, 16, remained in the hospital on Monday. She lost her 13-year-old sister, Rochel, in the crash last Tuesday.
“I have a lot of pain, but it’s going away slowly,” Aviva said.
Rochel Nisanov died after a personal watercraft she was riding on with Aviva crashed into a concrete dock on the Intracoastal Waterway after jumping the wake of a passing boat and losing control. The two were visiting South Florida along with their family.
“My daughter’s time was done. She did her tikkun,” the girls’ mother, Ora Nisanov, told Local 10 News. “She did what she had to do. Her job. She did her job.”
Fort Lauderdale police say their marine unit briefly stopped the two teenage sisters moments before the crash.
The owner of Prime Watersports, who rented the family the vessels, told Local 10 News that the girls took an online safety course. The family disputes this.
“All we have is phone calls and texts and none of them had any paperwork,” Aviva said.
Family members say they have many questions and want answers.
“This should never happen to anybody else,” the girls’ brother, Ely Nisanov, said.
State wildlife officers continue to investigate the crash.
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