Teenage girl dies after being hit by hockey puck

Seconds after being hit by a puck as she watched an ice hockey game in Ohio, 13-year-old Brittanie Cecil held a jacket to her head to stop the bleeding and left the stadium.

Two days later she was dead. Today would have been her 14th birthday. Her father took her to the game on Saturday as an early present, friends said.

The girl was hit in the head almost half way through the game between the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Calgary Flames.

A hard shot was deflected off another player and flew over the protective glass at the end of the ice. It appeared to glance off another spectator and hit the teenager in the left temple, witnesses said.

Arena officials and medical personnel immediately helped her out of her seat - about 15 rows above the ice - and up the steps to the exit.

‘‘I spoke to Brittanie’s father this morning,’’ Blue Jackets president and general manager Doug MacLean said, his voice breaking. ‘‘As a father of a 14-year-old and an 11-year-old, I cannot imagine the grief the family is experiencing.’’

National Hockey League Commissioner Gary Bettman said: ‘‘Our fans are our family, and this tragic accident fills us all with a deep sense of sorrow.’’

An autopsy was due to take place today.

West Alexandria, the small farming town where Brittanie lived, was in shock.

‘‘Everybody knows everybody. The kids are very close in this town,’’ said Stacy Habekost, who runs a beauty shop.

A talented and popular student, Brittanie was remembered as a hard worker who also loved to shop. Friend and football team-mate Kari Summers said many of her classmates were having a difficult time coping with the loss.

‘‘It was just so much fun to be around her,’’ she said.

Ice hockey teams warn spectators over loudspeakers about the dangers of pucks flying into the crowd. They also place warnings on scoreboards and on the back of each ticket to try to minimise their liability.

Despite that, there have been three reported deaths since 1979 - two in Canada and one in Washington state - attributed to fans being hit by pucks.

The US Baseball Hall of Fame said five spectators have been killed by balls hit into the crowd, including 14-year-old Alan Fish at a Los Angeles Dodgers’ game in 1970.