A 15-year-old boy was killed and his 12-year-old brother is in critical condition after an ATV accident Wednesday evening northwest of Portal.

Bulloch County Coroner Jake Futch said Hayden Fields and his brother were riding on an ATV side-by-side about 8:30 p.m. near their home off Poplar Springs Church Road and Old Moore Road when they lost control of the four-wheel vehicle.

“They were traveling north on Poplar Springs Church Road when the juvenile driver lost control of the vehicle,” said Trooper Matthew Davis with the Georgia State Patrol. “Both the driver and his juvenile passenger were ejected.”

Another brother who was outside on the porch of their home heard the accident happen and he and his father, John Fields, found the brothers and called for rescue, Futch said.

Emergency vehicles arrived on the scene and began treatment of the boys. Davis said air transport arrived shortly afterward and transported Hayden Fields to East Georgia Regional Medical Center. Futch said Fields, 15, died at the hospital of injuries he suffered in the accident. 

The younger brother was air transported from the accident scene to Memorial Hospital in Savannah, where he was listed in critical condition as of 4 p.m. Thursday, according to Davis.

Superintendent Charles Wilson of the Bulloch County Schools mentioned the tragedy before he gave the invocation at an 8 a.m. event Thursday, the second annual Bulloch Career Workforce Summit.

“I don’t know if you all have heard, but we lost a student of Portal Middle High School last night to an accident, and another student was seriously injured,” he said. “So I’m just asking that all of you keep that family in your thoughts and prayers.”

A prayer vigil for the family will be held Saturday at 9 a.m. at the turpentine still in the city of Portal.