A 24-year-old Marine sergeant has died after she was injured in a snowboarding accident at a well-liked resort whereas visiting household for the vacations.
Jesse Mello of Grand Junction, Colo., was snowboarding at Powderhorn Mountain on Dec. 24 when he suffered a extreme head harm and damaged bones mid-level on The Colorado Solar Resort’s piste reported.
The younger Marine’s father, Eric Mello, mentioned on the exit that witnesses noticed his daughter carrying a helmet and hit a patch of ice whereas snowboarding down the mountain, inflicting her to slip right into a tree.
She was airlifted to St. Mary’s Hospital in Grand Junction — roughly 40 miles from the snowboarding hotspot — and positioned in intensive care, the place she was left preventing for her life.
Melo died from his accidents on the hospital on January 5.
“My child woman went peacefully into the arms of Jesus tonight,” her father wrote in a Fb publish.
“Thanks all on your love and help via all of it… We love you all and should she relaxation in peace.”
A funeral was held for Melo on January 10 at Messiah Lutheran Church.
The service was adopted by Marine Corps Funeral Honorsthe place faucets sounded for her closing salute to service, and two Marines carrying their blue folded the American flag pinned to her casket and introduced it to her father.
Her father mentioned “greater than 50 Marines from world wide” confirmed as much as the service to pay their respects to his daughter, in response to The Colorado Solar.
Melo’s household instructed the publication that she grew up snowboarding at Powderhorn Mountain, however stopped in highschool and whereas serving within the Marine Corps.
Melo is remembered as “variety, loving and filled with pleasure,” however wasn’t afraid to “put you in your house with a easy look and construct you up with a hug,” a web based memorial web page created for the Marine shared.
“Excellence was not a lofty objective for Jesse; that was the usual,” shares a web based memorial web page arrange for the Marines.
“Jesse lived extra in 24 years than most dream of dwelling in a lifetime. She traveled the world, was a multi-sport athlete, black belt, sergeant in the US Marine Corps, and an incredible daughter, sister, and good friend to everybody she met.
Melo is survived by her dad and mom, Eric and Jennifer Melo, and two brothers, Beau and William Melo.
Her dying is the primary reported fatality on the ski space for the 2024-25 ski season, in response to The Colorado sun.
Within the 2023-34 season, a minimum of 15 folks died on Colorado ski slopes – six of them after colliding with bushes.
Powderhorn prides itself on its “1,600 acres of numerous terrain” and says its mountains obtain over 250 inches of snow yearly.
