MILWAUKEE, Wis. — A Rhode Island man vacationing in Wisconsin has died after he fell more than 70 feet while attempting to walk across a rising drawbridge in Milwaukee.

According to a Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office report, 77-year-old Richard Dujardin of Providence, Rhode Island, was walking across the Kilbourn Avenue Bridge with his wife Monday afternoon when it began to rise, NBC affiliate TMJ4 reported.

The report said his wife, Rose-Marie Dujardin, made it across the bridge. However, Richard Dujardin, who was looking at an iPad while walking, was still in the middle when it began rising, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

"The lights, bells, and arms came down at each end of the bridge," the report said according to the news outlets. "However, Richard was hard of hearing, and it is thought that he didn't notice them."

The report states that the 77-year-old tried to catch up to his wife, but couldn't, so he grabbed onto the side railing but lost his grip and fell 71 feet to the pavement below, the news outlets reported.

According to the report, the news outlets reported that Richard Dujardin suffered head trauma and died from his injuries at the scene.

The bridge is controlled by the city's Department of Public Works, the Associated Press reported.

In a statement to the news outlets, Interim Commissioner of Public Works Jerrel Kruschke said the operator was "fully trained," and is in his fourth year as a bridge operator and had opened bridges hundreds of times.

Kruschke added that the bridge operator was on leave and that he "was connected with the City’s Employee Assistance Program for counseling," the newspaper reported.

Milwaukee Police said in a statement that there is no suspicion of a criminal act, but the investigation was ongoing, the Associated Press reported.

Rose-Marie Dujardin told TMJ4 that her husband of 54 years was a reporter at the Providence Journal.

HAMILTON, Ohio —

A nurse from Hamilton said she and her family will be spending their first Christmas without her husband.

He died from COVID-19 at just 37 years old, earlier this year.

Christina Jewett said her late husband, Paul Jewett, 37, was unable to get a vaccine before he got sick.

It has been an incredibly hard year for the family.

Last month, they shared a Thanksgiving unlike any before and now, Christmas won't be the way they imagined.

"It's weird to picture from the beginning of the year to now. You picture you're going to have your family together for holidays, you know, dad's going to be there," Christina Jewett said.

But this Christmas, Jewett's life is very different.

We talked with her earlier this year after her husband died from COVID-19 in April.

She said the father of five had no underlying conditions.

"I didn't imagine I'd be wrapping the presents alone or any of that, you know, having to get the tree together was really hard because it was one of our traditions," she said.

Jewett is making sure she shows her sons pictures of their dad as she pulls together the strength to do it all.

She also welcomed their new baby boy to the world this year after Paul died.

"Benny's great. He's 8 months old now. He just started crawling and standing all at the same time, but he's been absolutely the light of everything," she said.

Jewett is also a nurse and sometimes shares her husband's story when patients have doubts about the vaccines.

"They weren't doing under 40 when he got sick and he was only 37, so, even if he wanted to, he couldn't have got it at the time," she said.

Now, with record-breaking case numbers, she knows others may be dealing with the same loss.

She hopes her husband's story can inspire someone to get vaccinated and keep a family intact.

"The biggest lesson I've had to learn this year is that life is very fragile and very short," she said.

Jewett said since her husband's death, she has made friends online in social media groups that help people with loss and grief.

Those friendships have transcended the internet.

She said at least one of those new friends will be spending Christmas with her family this year.

Jewett said it's important that people never stop praying in these situations.

She also said it's good to lean into your support system when dealing with loss.