A Kentucky 8-Year-Old Killed in Freak Accident After a Basketball Hoop Broke and Fell on Him

A Kentucky family is grieving after their 8-year-old son died from injuries caused by a basketball hoop falling on him. 

On Monday, Eli Hill, 8, was attempting to dunk a basketball by standing on something to help him reach the hoop when the backboard came loose and fell on him, according to WKYT.

Eli’s mother, Ashley Hill, was in the house making dinner when the incident occurred on the driveway, WYMT reported. 

“Please pray for my Eli. Please do not pass this post without speaking a prayer for him. He’s hurt in an accident. Please pray,” said Eli’s father, Adam Hill. 

The young boy was taken to a hospital with blunt force trauma to the chest caused by the hoop and he later died due to his injuries, according to WYMT. 

Eli’s family decided to donate his organs. “Eli had a heart of gold and somebody else has that heart now,” the boy’s family told the Lexington Herald-Leader. 

Arrangements have not yet been finalized for Eli but the First Baptist Church of Corbin has opened its doors to those that need a place to grieve the young child’s passing.

“Our hearts are devastated today, for our Corbin community has been crushed in the wake of tragedy. The news of young Eli's passing is impossible to process and to make sense of. It is tragic and overwhelming. It is heartbreaking and unfair,” said the church. 

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