Boy, 11, Dies After Falling from Vehicle

An 11-year-old boy has died from injuries sustained in a freak accident Saturday afternoon on Rickard Drive near Route 34.

William Furukawa fell from the rear passenger window of an SUV driven by his father's fiancee while it traveled slowly down Rickard Drive at about 2:20 p.m. Saturday, according to a Kendall County Sheriff’s Office release. After falling to the pavement, William was rushed to Rush-Copley Medical Center and then transferred to Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, where he was pronounced dead at about 9 p.m. Sunday.

William recently finished fifth grade at in Yorkville, District 115 Superintendent Scott Wakeley said.

The accident occurred after the vehicle the boy was in began to experience mechanical failure near Rickard on Saturday. The vehicle stalled after it turned off of Route 34. After the vehicle stopped, three of the five children in the vehicle exited the vehicle, the sheriff’s office said.

A postal carrier then stopped to help, and the driver was able to get the car restarted, the sheriff’s office said. The driver told the children to get back in the car. A 12-year-old was told to walk to the driver's parents’ home on Rickard Drive about a quarter of a mile away. The boy was to tell the driver's parents that the driver was experiencing car trouble, the release said.

As the vehicle restarted and boy's father's fiancee began to slowly drive up Rickard, William unbuckled his seatbelt and leaned out the rear passenger-side window to motion to his older brother. That’s when he fell from the vehicle and struck the ground, the sheriff’s office said.

The vehicle was stopped immediately and his father's fiancee called for help.

“The investigation into this incident continues, but the death appears accidental,” the sheriff’s office said. “Foul play is not suspected.”

This story has been updated to reflect the correct day of the accident. Also, the driver of the vehicle was the fiancee of William's father, according to the Kendall County sheriff's office. We regret the errors.