Photo of Eric Medalle via Nintendo Everything

Veteran Pokémon artist and designer Eric Medalle died Sunday in Seattle when a massive tree collapsed onto his car. He was 42.




As reported by KING 5 News in Seattle, Medalle had been driving with one of his two daughters near a park called Lost Lake Trail. A significant windstorm knocked over several trees in the area, including the one that hit Medalle’s car. A bystander rescued Medalle’s daughter from the wreckage, and she was sent to a nearby hospital with minor injuries.

Medalle had worked for The Pokémon Company since 2003 as an artist and designer on various games in the popular monster-collecting series.


UPDATE - 3:58pm: Medalle’s friends have started a fundraiser to send his daughters to college.