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HER DYING LOOK

Vic ‘glanced up’ just as tree fell

By JACK MORPHET and KATE SHEEHY jmorphet@nypost.com

The Bronx woman killed by a falling tree in an apartment-building swimming pool had taken a break from work to do laps and likely looked up at it just before she was struck, the building super told The Post on Tuesday.

Donna Douglas, 59, was enjoying the gorgeous weather with a female pal at the River Terrace Apartments in Spuyten Duyvil just after 1:30 p.m. Monday when the tree collapsed, said Alex Syku.

Syku, 57, said his 17-year-old daughter was lifeguarding at the time.

“She [the daughter] heard a crack. For a second, she looked up, saw the tree leaning,’’ the super said. “She yelled, ‘Oh, my God!’

“And I believe in that moment, Donna might have looked up towards the tree,’’ he added, saying the victim’s facial injuries indicated that was the case.

“It happened at 1:34 p.m.,’’ Syku said. “My daughter was talking to Donna just before she was killed.

“My daughter called me at 1:35 p.m., after she helped [the other woman] out of the pool. Then my daughter called 911, and my doorman called 911, and three or four people in the building called 911.

“When I got to the pool, I could only see a little bit of Donna’s feet — she was covered completely by the tree,’’ he said. “The pool was completely filled with blood. If you had 200 doctors, there’s nothing you could do for her.”

Syku said he dove in fully clothed.

“I pulled Donna out of the water within three minutes,’’ he said.

A doctor and a retired dentist who both live in the building “ran down because they heard what happened,’’ but it was too late to help Douglas, Syku added.

He said the victim worked online. “Donna was working from home. She took a half-hour break to have a quick swim,’’ he said.

“Donna was one of the best residents. She was always smiling, happy; she loved the pool, she loved to swim,’’ Syku said. He said she had lived at the building for about four or five years and posted several photos of ocean scenes on her Facebook page.

The other woman who was injured has lived there for around 15 years and “is one of the No. 1 users of the pool,’’ Syku said. “All summer she’s in the pool. They are both very good people, very nice.’’

The injured woman “has a bruised face but nothing major,’’ Syku said. “She came home last night at about 10 p.m. from the hospital after having CAT scans. “She’s fine, but she’s traumatized.’’

A pink hat belonging to one of the women was still floating in the pool among tree branches Tuesday.

Syku said the tree, which he estimated to have been 70 feet tall, was on the property next door.

It came within a few inches of a gas pipe used to heat the pool, Syku noted, which would have caused another potential disaster if it had struck the line.

“[The tree] missed it by a few inches,’’ he said.

“The tree looks very healthy from the outside. Nobody could say in a million years it was going to fall down.’’

AFGHANISTAN: ONE YEAR LATER

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2022-08-17T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-08-17T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://nypost.pressreader.com/article/281951726605600

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