A ‘loving mom’ from Pennsylvania was killed in a freak accident while enjoying her daughter’s softball game last week.

Gendie Miller, aged 49, alongside her husband Bill, were cheering on their 16-year-old daughter Marlee this past Wednesday. To escape the 90-degree heat, they chose to sit beneath a tree, as WPXI reports.

As the teen was working on her drills just before 7pm, Bill said he heard a cracking sound that jolted him from his seat.

‘I said to my wife, “Let’s go,”‘ he recounted to WTAE.

“I leaped out of my seat after feeling a light branch that brushed my leg. Instinctively, I turned to my right to check on her, only to find her face down underneath several large branches and limbs.”

Gendie had apparently been struck in the head by one of the branches, which Bill said were between 10 to 12 inches thick.

Good Samaritans immediately ran over to help remove the branches off of her limp body, Bill said, but the damage was too severe.

She died on her way to the local hospital. 

“The weight of those branches and limbs was overwhelming,” shared her grieving husband. “I know her heart wasn’t what failed her, because her heart was incredibly big.”

Gendie Miller, 49, (right) was killed in a freak accident on Wednesday when she and her husband, Bill (center), were watching their daughter Marlee (left) compete at the Western Pennsylvania College Showcase softball camp in McKeesport

The couple decided to get out of the 90-degree heat by sitting under a tree, when branches suddenly fell on them just before 7pm

He explained that his wife of 17 years was known for her kind spirit, as well as her love for their travel softball family in Western Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia.

‘She would never miss a practice or an event, high school, travel ball, wherever it was,’ Bill said. ‘That was who she was.’

Family friend Luka Bompiani also described Gendie as ‘such a loving woman, caring woman and a mother who lived for her daughter.

‘And she put everything she had into Marlee and everything she had into Bill,’ he said. ‘It’s just sad.’

In a statement, Sheri Burdett, the District 9 USA Softball of Pennsylvania commissioner, said she was ‘deeply saddened to learn of the tragic situation that occurred before the start of our tournament.’

‘Our thoughts and prayers are with the Miller family during this incredibly difficult time,’ she said. ‘At this moment, our sole focus is on supporting them in any way we can.’

McKeesport Mayor Michael Cherepko also said his ‘thoughts and prayers are with the family at this time.

‘An evening that started like any other, with families and friends gathered in the park for a game, has ended in tragedy after this horrible accident.’  

Bill said his wife of 17 years was known for her kind spirit, as well as her love for their travel softball family in Western Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia. The family is pictured here in an undated photo

Bill said he remains in shock about what happened, while their teenage daughter is ‘being very strong.’

Still, community members are rallying around the family, with one of Marlee’s coaches on her Nitro Fastpitch team setting up an online fundraiser to help Bill with the expenses related to his wife’s untimely passing.

‘Between medical/ambulance bills, funeral items and initial lost wages, Bill and Marlee could use all the hope they can get,’ Michael Mull writes in the GoFundMe, which had already raised nearly $48,000 for the family as of Sunday.

‘Although it doesn’t bring back their loved one, it takes a bit of the burden off of coming up with funds they don’t have right now for something so unexpected.’ 

‘You never know when your time comes and this was such a freak accident that they definitely need the community support around them,’ added Bompiani.

Yet the family friend expressed his hope that the family will be OK.

He noted that he had spoken with Bill on Friday, when the softball coach told him Marlee looked up at him earlier that day and said, ‘Hey dad, we got this. We’re gonna get through this, we got this together.’

‘When I heard that [it] just brought tears to my eyes,’ Bompiani said.