Girl dies in dune buggy accident

HUDSON -- A few days ago 5-year-old Lexi Bordner asked her mother if there were horses and unicorns in heaven.

"Sure," her mother said.

"I'm going to ride one with a rainbow tail through the clouds," she told her mother.

Heaven. That's where Lexi's family said she was Tuesday, the day after she was killed in a dune buggy wreck in her back yard.

Lexi's mother was gone on a business trip to North Carolina on Labor Day, said Lexi's grandfather Marvin Williams. He said Lexi's two older brothers were trying to entertain Lexi while their mother was gone.

About 4:40 p.m. Benjamin Bordner, 13, was driving his sister through the family's expansive back yard off Renee Lane in Hudson. The front left side of the buggy crashed into a tree.

Benjamin said he didn't know how fast he was going, according to a Pasco County sheriff's report.

Neither of the children were wearing helmets or safety belts.

Benjamin broke his left leg.

Lexi slammed into one of the buggy's support brackets. She was having trouble breathing, her family told deputies after the wreck.

Robert Bordner said he was working in a barn when he heard the accident and rushed his kids to Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point, the sheriff's report states.

Just before 6:30 p.m., Lexi Bordner died at the hospital.

Before her mother left for the Carolinas, Lexi had drawn herself in pencil flying through the clouds with wings. She gave the picture to her mother.

"She's a 5-year-old angel," grandfather Williams said.

The little girl whose grandfather said she looked like a cherub had recently started school at Northwest Elementary, her family said.

She was excited about the first day because the teacher let them make cookies, her grandfather said.

He said she was a tomboy. She dressed in cowboy boots and a big hat.

She loved riding her 22-year-old mare. Its name is pronounced Serrico, Williams said, but he wasn't sure if it had ever been spelled out.

"Most girls collected dolls," Williams said. "She collected miniature horses."

Lexi's brother was recovering Tuesday from his injuries.

Williams wasn't worried so much about Benjamin's broken leg.

"That will heal," he said. "I don't know whether the heart will or not."

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright