YNN.com

Ithaca / Cortland

Change region

  49º

You are not signed in  |  Sign in here  |  Help

You're viewing a lite version of ynn.com

Time Warner Cable customers: Sign in with your TWC ID for video access.

Get my TWC ID. | Get TWC service. | Read the FAQ.

Updated 05/29/2012 07:55 PM

Community mourns the loss of a young boy

People in Bainbridge are mourning the loss of a 10-year-old boy who died after an accident during a Memorial Day parade. Officials say Teddy Cherniak fell off a float. Our Elyse Mickalonis talked with witnesses and those who knew the child.

  To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.

Then come back here and refresh the page.

BAINBRIDGE, N.Y. -- At the corner of Front and Main streets stands a memorial with flowers, baseballs and small notes for a 10-year-old Teddy Cherniak who died on Monday in Bainbridge.

"Just stick together, be a family, come together be a community and a family and everything will work out,” said Steven Sherman, a Sodus resident.

Officials say Cherniak fell off of his baseball team’s float in the Memorial Day parade on Monday. He was taken to Wilson Hospital and later died from injuries. Police haven’t released all of the details of the accident and say the investigation is ongoing, but a number of people witnessed the fall.

“There was a girl next to my front porch and she was crying her eyes out. I guess she suspected the worst,” said George Gohl, a Bainbridge resident.

George Gohl says he was immediately worried when the boy didn’t move.

“He wasn’t moving, so a natural in of anyone who falls if they’re not up, they try to get up. But he wasn’t moving,” said Gohl.

We talked with some people who knew the boy off camera. They said this was a horrible accident, but they want people to know he was a great student, had a big heart and a big smile and was a wonderful athlete, always asking for five more minutes on the court, field and even in gym class.

“The whole community gets together hopefully to help everybody out,” said Sherman.

An awful accident that’s left a whole in the heart of a small town.

The Bainbridge-Guilford Central School District is providing counselors for students. The boy's baseball team is not practicing until further notice. Further details about the accident are not being released at this time and the investigation is ongoing.