Long Island resident Dr. Monika Woroniecki, age 58, of Stony Brook, died Saturday, April 6, after falling from a moving Airstream trailer on Route 12E in the Jefferson County town of Brownville, about 60 miles north of Syracuse, according to State Police.
Investigators said Woroniecki and other family members had decided to spend the last 20 minutes of the trip riding in the trailer, which was being pulled by a Ram pickup truck driven by her husband, Robert.
Witnesses behind the family told police they saw the Airstream’s passenger side door open and Woroniecka’s arm hanging onto the door. She was then thrown from the moving trailer and struck her head on the shoulder of the roadway.
Cape Vincent Ambulance transported her to the emergency room of Samaritan Medical Center in Watertown where she was pronounced dead. Nobody else was injured and no other vehicles were involved.
At the time of her death, the couple was on a family trip to view the total solar eclipse, Syracuse.com reports.
Woroniecki was a pediatrician at Stony Brook Children’s Hospital, where her husband also works as a pediatrician, according to their hospital profiles. She specialized in children’s allergy and immunology since the early 2000s after completing her fellowship at Children’s Hospital of Buffalo.
“In addition to treating children with food, environmental, medications, and bee stings allergies, she treats childhood asthma and skin conditions like eczema and hives,” reads her profile.
Stony Brook Medicine issued the following statement to Daily Voice regarding her loss:
“Stony Brook Medicine is deeply saddened to learn of the tragic loss of one of our esteemed colleagues over the weekend, Dr. Monika Woroniecka, a physician at Stony Brook Children’s Hospital. Our thoughts are with her family, friends and colleagues affected by this heartbreaking event.”
New York State Police are investigating the incident.
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