Harvey, who’s scheduled to be released from the hospital today, remembers wearing a helmet that day, according to her father, Joe Munn.

That’s contrary to what was initially reported by Essex County Coroner Frank Whitelaw. He told the Enterprise and other news outlets that the girls were not wearing helmets at the time of the Dec. 10 crash, when the Ski-Doo sled they were riding crashed into a Ford F-350 pickup truck parked in the Rascoe family’s driveway in Lake Clear and then hit a tree.

No one witnessed the crash, and the girls didn’t have helmets on when first responders arrived at the scene.

State police investigators say they found a pair of helmets near the crash site, including one with a smashed face shield, but they haven’t determined conclusively whether the girls were wearing helmets when the crash took place.

The family of Harlie Rascoe provided this photo of her. Rascoe died Dec. 10 in a snowmobile crash in Lake Clear. (Photo provided)

–

Family speaks

–

Kim and David Rascoe visited the Enterprise office Tuesday to provide the newspaper with a statement, printed as a letter to the editor in today’s newspaper, that describes their daughter as a quirky 12-year-old with a big smile who loved her family and loved to help other people. It’s the first time the Rascoes have spoken publicly about Harlie since her death.

“Everyone who met her fell in love with her,” the statement reads. “She weighed all of a 110 pounds and would steal your heart in the blink of an eye.”

Christina "Tina" Harvey (Photo from family's GoFundMe site)

Harlie Rascoe enjoyed sports, cooking and the outdoors. She was looking forward to taking her hunter safety course this year, her parents said. More than anything, however, she loved to ride snowmobiles, dirt bikes and four-wheelers. She wanted to be the first girl to ride a Harley-Davidson motorcycle — her grandfather’s 1973 Ironhead chopper — to Saranac Lake High School.

“If it had wheels and moved, she’d ride it,” the statement reads. “She was becoming an expert at running heavy equipment. You couldn’t tell her she couldn’t do it, because she would jump right in and show you.”

–

Helmet question

–

While Kim and David Rascoe declined to recount everything that happened on Dec. 10, saying it was too painful to re-live it all again, they did address the question of whether the girls were wearing helmets. They said some people, on social media or in conversations with their family, have questioned their parenting, believing the girls were not wearing helmets.

“People are judgmental, and they don’t stop to think of the repercussions of their words based on something they’ve read or heard,” Kim Rascoe said.

David Rascoe said Harlie’s brother David Rascoe Jr. took a pair of helmets from the wall in the dining room and gave them to the girls before they went snowmobiling that day. Harlie took her brother’s helmet while Tina had Harlie’s helmet.

“They put them on before they left the house, but neither one of us checked to see if they were latched right,” David Rascoe said. “At the initial impact, we believe they were wearing helmets.”

“Harlie knew she was not to be on anything — sled, four-wheeler, motorcycle — without a helmet on,” Kim Rascoe said.

–

Coroner stands by comments

–

In the immediate aftermath of the crash, Whitelaw told the Enterprise that neither girl was wearing a helmet. The coroner said Tuesday that he stands by that “opinion” and explained what he based it on. He said the head injuries both girls suffered “were consistent with not wearing helmets,” and when he went to the scene, he didn’t see any helmets.

Whitelaw said it’s possible that the girls were wearing helmets but they weren’t worn properly and may have come off on impact.

–

Investigation

–

State police haven’t completed their investigation of the crash, but Lt. Tim Roberts of the state police Bureau of Criminal Investigation said two helmets were located at the scene. One of them had a broken face shield, he said.

“One was relatively close to one of the bodies,” Roberts said. “The other was a little distance away. They were outside. To say whether they were on, off or anything like that, we’re still in the preliminary stages as far as that goes.”

“There may not be an answer to it as far as they could be on but not buckled properly. There may be some answers there that we just won’t get to.”

–

Remembers helmet

–

Munn said he was contacted recently by a state police investigator who wanted to know what Harvey remembers about the crash. She remembers wearing a multi-colored helmet that day, Munn said.

“Christina even mentioned the cut on her head, and how it was hard to believe she had such a cut on her head when the helmet was so thick,” Munn said. “Based on what she said, every time we’ve talked about it, she said she had that helmet on.”

–

Thanks to community

–

In addition to addressing helmet issue, the Rascoe family said they want to publicly thank the community for its messages of condolence, donations and support.

“The ER staff, the first responders, the school — everybody has rallied together to support both of our families,” Kim Rascoe said. “To Brendan Keough (of the Fortune-Keough Funeral Home), for making us feel like she was the only one that mattered — there aren’t words to express our gratitude for the support we’ve seen from day one, and since then.”

–

Harvey coming home

–

Harvey is scheduled to be discharged today from the University of Vermont Inpatient Rehabilitation Unit in Burlington. She underwent surgery Dec. 16 to fuse several of her vertebrae, and she’s been fitted with a collar to protect other broken bones in her neck.

“She’s ready to move on and transition back to home life,” Munn said. “It’s going to be a task. She’s still in a lot of pain. She’s going to be in that collar that she has for a minimum of eight weeks. It depends on how things go. But we’re looking forward to coming home.

“We’re very grateful that Tina’s alive,” David Rascoe said.

“It’s a miracle,” Kim Rascoe said. “We rejoice for them. You can’t shut down to the miracles in the world just because you’re shattered through pain.”