Florida woman hit by sting ray died of blunt force trauma

A woman who died after she was hit by a spotted eagle ray leaping from the water off the Florida Keys suffered "multiple skull fractures and direct brain injury," a medical examiner said Friday

Judy Kay Zagorski, 55, of Pigeon, Michigan, died Thursday of "blunt force craniocerebral trauma" after the ray hit her when she was in a boat, Monroe County medical examiner Michael Hunter determined.

He gave no indication in the preliminary report whether the blow from the ray itself or her head hitting the deck, or both, killed her.

"It's just as freakish of an accident as I have heard," said Jorge Pino of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. "The chances of this occurring are so remote that most of us are completely astonished that this happened."

Zagorski was on the boat with her father and other family members and friends. She was seated or standing in the front of the vessel as it was traveling about 25 mph out of a channel, Pino said.

"The ray just actually popped up in front of the vessel," he said. "The father had not even a second to react. It was too late. It happened instantly and the woman fell backwards and, unfortunately, died as a result of the collision."

The accident happened off the coast of Marathon Key, about 2½ hours' drive south of Miami. Zagorski was taken to the Fishermen's Hospital in Marathon, where she was pronounced dead.