According to the coroner, the 38-year-old victim was an emergency room doctor who also owned the Coventina Day Spa in Waterford.
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An emergency room doctor and local spa owner died Wednesday when part of a tree fell on him while mowing his lawn on his Greene Township property, the Erie County Coroner’s Office said.
The victim, identified Thursday morning by Erie County Coroner Lyell Cook as 38-year-old Dr. Christopher Karns, was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident at 12:39 a.m. Wednesday. The accident was reported just before noon Wednesday at a property in the 2900 block of Brown Road, according to the coroner’s office.
Cook said Karns was on a tractor mowing an orchard when the tractor became caught in a tree and part of it fell on Karns and the tractor.
Cook said he believes the death was an accident.
Karns worked as an emergency room physician for more than 10 years, primarily at Saint Vincent Hospital but also taking shifts at other regional hospitals. He left Saint Vincent in May 2023, about a year after he and his wife, Dawn, purchased Coventina Day & Medical Spa in Waterford.
“Chris was always in a good mood and always smiling,” said Dr. Scott DuCharme, an emergency physician from Saint Vincent who has worked with Karns since 2013. “He was a friendly guy and even a little bit of a joker.”
DuCharme said Karns became interested in aesthetic medicine, which involves medical procedures other than plastic surgery that aim to improve a person’s physical appearance.
“He took additional courses and learned how to do Botox treatments,” DuCharme said. “It’s a little different than emergency medicine. People come in on time and with a goal in mind and leave happy.”
Karns continued to work part-time as an emergency room physician, taking one 24-hour shift per week in the emergency room at Titusville Area Hospital, DuCharme said.
Besides his wife, Karns leaves behind three children.
Editor David Bruce contributed to this story.
Contact Tim Hahn at [email protected]. Follow him on X @ETNhahn.
