Wissahickon Trail in Fairmount Park is a perfect haven for exercise enthusiasts with a supportive tree canopy. Lush with greenery that helps block out the beating summer sun, many ride, walk, or jog on the trail and some even take their pooch for a walk.
23-year-old Mary Kathryn Ladany put on her iPod and went for a jog on the trail.
The trees are numerous and plentiful on the trail. Many grow sideways because of the hill that is next to it. Old with a character all their own, the trees create solitude for anyone seeking refuge from the city. Unbeknownst to the jogger, one particular tulip poplar would be her downfall.
Wednesday night, August 5, Mary Kathryn, was jogging near Valley Green and Forbidden Drive. Listening to her iPod she may have never heard the cracking branch.
“A large branch about 30-feet in length that fell, broke off a tree about 50-feet high in the air,” said Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small.
It broke her neck killing her instantly. When she was found, her iPod was still playing.
How is it that the iPod didn’t sustain any damage, but for Mary Kathryn it was her end? Shouldn’t it be the other way around?
It was a matter of being at the wrong place at the wrong time.
She was a graduate of Bucknell University and a teacher at Dobbins Career and Technical High School.
My condolences to her family and friends.
Sources: NBC, Fox News, Daily News