A well-known pediatrician reportedly died Monday after falling from his Airstream camper on a New York freeway while on his way to see a total solar eclipse with his family.
New York State Police said Dr. Monica Woroniecka, 58, fell from a 2024 gray Airstream that was being hoisted by a pickup truck driven by her husband. The accident occurred Saturday afternoon on Route 12E in Jefferson County in the northern part of the state.
Woroniecka rode in the Airstream with other family members for the last 20 minutes of the trip, the department said in a news release.
“Witnesses who were in the back of the Airstream claimed to have seen the passenger side door of the Airstream open. After the door was blown open by the wind, Monika Woroniecka's arm was in the door. dangling and she was thrown from the Airstream,” the news release said.
The doctor's head then hit the shoulder of the road. She was later pronounced dead at the hospital.
Woronitzka has been treating children since the early 2000s.
The investigation into the tragedy is ongoing, the ministry said.
Woroniecka is a physician in the subspecialty of pediatric allergy and immunology at Stony Brook School of Medicine, where she has been practicing since the early 2000s. According to her bio page, she treated children with allergies, asthma and skin conditions, and even taught pediatrics as a clinical assistant professor.
“Dr. Woroniecka has extensive experience in evaluating children for immune disorders and frequent infections. She works with children and their families, educating them on chronic allergy-related illnesses, and I enjoy building long-term relationships,” her page reads.
Outside of work, he enjoyed hiking, exercising, and spending time with family and friends.
travel to see a solar eclipse
Woronitzka's neighbor and husband, Robert Woronicka, said the couple had traveled to see the total solar eclipse on Monday, according to the New York Post.
“Poor Robert. Poor kids,” a tearful neighbor told the New York Post. “Really nice family, good neighbors, great.”
Several cities in upstate New York were in the process of being completely destroyed, including Buffalo, Niagara Falls, Jamestown, Rochester, Syracuse-Lake Placid, Plattsburgh, and Watertown.