North Texas Ice Storm Tragedies: Drowning, Sledding, and Weather-Related Deaths

Tragic Loss of Three Brothers

• 💔 Three young brothers, EJ, Caleb, and Howard Monday, drowned in a frozen pond after one fell through the ice and the others attempted a rescue.
• 😥 Their mother described the ice breaking as she tried to save them, highlighting the sudden and devastating nature of the event.

Wider Weather-Related Fatalities

• 🩺 In Kieville, retired doctor Barry Aldridge, 78, died after falling into a pond on his property.
• 🛷 Two teenage girls, Gracie Bridto and Elizabeth Angel, died in a sledding accident in Frisco when the Jeep pulling their sled hit a curb and a tree.
• 🛶 A 17-year-old, Kaden Noiki, died in Ponder after being ejected from a kayak being towed by an ATV, subsequently crashing into a fence.

Community Grief and Wider Impact

• 🎈 A balloon release was held near the pond where the brothers drowned, with some balloons getting stuck in a tree, symbolizing their enduring memory.
• 🏥 Cook Children's Hospital treated over 60 children for sledding-related injuries, with the youngest being just 2 years old.
• 🌎 Sledding and other weather-related deaths were also reported in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Virginia, underscoring the widespread impact of the severe weather.