A 13-year-old Hawaiian boy died after his brother accidentally hit an embankment and overturned their RTV on the Big Island.
Maxim Beregovoy was riding on a Kubota RTV X900 on Puukala Road in Kailua Kona on Tuesday evening with his brother, eight, when the latter veered off the road and accidentally struck an embankment and lost control, according to Hawaii News Now.
The vehicle, which is designed for rough terrains, overturned after the crash on the family’s property and launched Maxim off, pining him underneath, according to Island News.
He was rushed to Kona Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 7pm.
‘It’s hard,’ his father, Eugene Beregovoy told Island News. ‘It’s a big loss. My second and third [children] just can’t comprehend that he’s not around anymore.
‘He was my future,’ the father continued, growing emotional. ‘I had a lot of plans for him, we even worked together.’
Maxim Beregovoy, 13, (middle) was riding on a Kubota RTV X900 on Puukala Road in Kailua Kona on Tuesday evening with his brother, eight, when the latter veered off the road and accidentally struck an embankment and lost control
The vehicle, which is designed for rough terrains, overturned after the crash on the family’s property and launched Maxim (pictured on a tractor) off, pining him underneath
The other child sustained non-life-threatening injuries and he was treated at the scene (pictured: a Kubota RTV X900)
Eugene’s other child sustained non-life-threatening injuries and he was treated at the scene, according to the outlet.
Police are investigating the crash.
Eugene said Maxim knew how to drive the RTV and he believes his eldest was trying to teach his brother, who was not identified, how to operate the machinery.
‘He’s an eight-year-old, I couldn’t comprehend that Max would put him behind the wheel,’ Eugene told Island News. ‘But older brother trying to show his younger brother how it is done, because Max by that age was driving these things.’
The incident happened in the family’s driveway near a gate.
‘My driveway goes up to the gate but it also turns 180 degrees to the workshop and when he turned left he hit the embankment and it rolled,’ the father-of-seven explained.
!['It's hard,' his father, Eugene Beregovoy (pictured) told Island News. 'It's a big loss. My second and third [children] just can't comprehend that he's not around anymore. 'He was my future. I had a lot of plans for him, we even worked together'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/10/24/14/91237597-13997081-image-m-56_1729777146884.jpg)
‘It’s hard,’ his father, Eugene Beregovoy (pictured) told Island News. ‘It’s a big loss. My second and third [children] just can’t comprehend that he’s not around anymore. ‘He was my future. I had a lot of plans for him, we even worked together’
Eugene said Maxim (far right) knew how to drive the RTV and he believes his eldest was trying to teach his brother, who was not identified, how to operate the machinery
The Ukrainian family, who moved to the Hawaiian island in 2019, are focusing on the happy memories of Maxim, including a recent hike he and Eugene recently took.
‘He said: “Dad can you go out with us to do a hike?” and I finally got a chance a few weeks ago. So we went out and found the lava tube,’ he told the outlet.
A GoFundMe has been started for the family to help pay for funeral expenses.
The family remembers the teenager as a ‘sweet, caring, and incredibly smart boy with a bright future.’
Maxim loved exploring the great outdoors, doing science experiments, and designing projects that let him learn, the fundraiser said.
Maxim loved exploring the great outdoors, doing science experiments, and designing projects that let him learn. He is pictured on his last hike with his father, where they went out and found lava tube
Maxim was the eldest of seven siblings, with the seventh being born just weeks before the tragedy. The Ukrainian family moved to the Hawaiian island in 2019
‘He will be missed terribly, as everyone who knew him loved him dearly,’ the fundraiser, which has raised more than $10,000, said.
Maxim was the eldest of seven siblings, with the seventh being born just weeks before the tragedy.
The family homeschooled their children and don’t own a TV, so the children are ‘always together playing’ and they use the RTV and a Polaris to get around the large agricultural property.
‘I have a little John Deere tractor and that’s his machine. He operates it. I have an excavator and ever since he was eight, he asked me to teach me how to run it. By nine years old, he was running an excavator on our farm,’ Eugene said.
