Family, Police: Hopatcong Skateboarder in Critical Condition Should Have Worn Helmet

She walked out of her nephew's bedroom holding his bicycle helmet by a chinstrap.

"He never used it," Diana Gomez said.

Jonathan Delgado spent Thursday in critical condition in Morristown Memorial Hospital's intensive-care unit a day after crashing off a skateboard after being encouraged, his step brother said, by new friends to ride down a section of Unger Avenue called "Suicide Hill" because of its steep incline.

Delgado, 18, wasn't wearing a helmet, and Thursday authorities and members of Delgado's family agreed it could have prevented serious injuries. Doctors have placed Delgado in induced coma, Gomez said.

"We need to educate our kids to wear helmets," Hopatcong Police Chief John Swanson said.

Gomez said Thursday afternoon that Delgado was unresponsive before being placed under coma. She added doctors said the first 72 hours post-accident were most important to see how he'd recover and that his fever had dropped slightly.

State law requires riders under 17 years old to wear helmets. But at age 18 the choice is the rider's.

"I want this to be a learning experience to the other kids," Gomez said. "First of all, don't do it. But if you're going to do it, put something on to protect your head."

Delgado moved to Hopatcong from Passaic in October, but graduated from Passaic High School. Gomez said he wanted to make friends in Hopatcong and planned to attend college.

Alexander Caballero said two of Delgado's teenage friends coaxed Delgado to ride down the hill.

"Some kids told [Delgado] it had never been done before on a skateboard," Alexander Caballero said.

He added Delgado, who often skated at the park on Hopatchung Road, "insisted on doing it."

"When he went to the bottom [of the hill] he ran out of balance…and he lost control and slide and he rolled three times."

That's when Unger Avenue resident Michelle Costanza heard screams. Then she ran out into the street where Delgado lay bleeding and called 911, she said. Neighbor Karen Pisano said Delgado's skateboard was pulled out 8-10 feet from where he landed.

The accident occurred around 3 p.m. An ambulance soon picked up Delgado and transported him to Veteran's Field, where he was flown to Morristown via helicopter.

Costanza said Delgado was convulsing on the street.

"It was terrible," she said.

Diana Gomez said Delgado is "a quiet kid."

"He's not a troublemaker at all. He was just trying to make friends," she said, adding Delgado recently earned his driving permit.

"He was a very nice kid when you got to know him."

Many Unger Avenue residents agreed wearing a helmet might have helped Delgado, but that the section of the street is called "Suicide Hill" for a reason and that they'd like to see something to discourage kids on bikes or skateboards and drivers from traveling fast on it.

Gloria Durban has lived on the street for 19 years. She has two boys: Alfredo, 18, and Austin, 11. This was the first serious accident on Unger Avenue she could remember.

But she called the street "dangerous." Pisano said the street could benefit from warning signs or speed bumps. But she wasn't sure.

"There's really not a whole lot you can do," Pisano said.

Diana Gomez agreed.

"He might not have been to that hospital if he had the helmet on," she said.