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Youth Impaled on Tree Was to Graduate With Twin

An 18-year-old high school student who was about to graduate fell from a bluff on Long Island and landed on the limb of a felled tree, killing him.

An 18-year-old man died after falling off bluffs and becoming impaled on a tree limb on Long Island.

Matthew J. Grimaldi, of Lake Grove, fell near Hulse Landing Beach in Wading River shortly before 7 p.m. Sunday, Riverhead police said.

He and friends attending a party had climbed onto the nearby bluffs and Grimaldi lost his footing while trying to come down, according to police. He landed on the branches of a felled tree, and was punctured in the chest.

He was pronounced dead on arrival at a local hospital.

Grimaldi was a senior at Ward Melville High School and was set to graduate next month along with his twin brother. The school plans to have grief counselors available when classes resume this week.

— NBC New York