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On May 11, 2010 Clearwater Bullets Coach Herb Welch was presented with the Medal of Valor for his actions and rescue of a 16 year old crash victim. This is the second highest award one can receive. THANK YOU FOR SERVING OUR COMMUNITY!
Early Morning Accident Kills Haven Teen
Sunday, February 8, 2010
The Ledger, Winter Haven
Candra Michelle Rittenhouse became the third Lake Region High School student to die in a horrific traffic accident along Winter Lake Road since December.
The 17-year-old Winter Haven girl died Sunday after being thrown from a 1991 white Nissan Pathfinder in a one-vehicle accident that sent 16-year-old Sara Kay Smith to the hospital and closed the highway for about five hours, the Polk County Sheriff's Office said.
Rittenhouse died at Tampa General Hospital after being flown there for treatment. She had been listed in critical condition when she was first admitted, the Sheriff's Office said.
Smith, 16, of Winter Haven, was flown to Tampa General Hospital, were she was listed in serious condition Sunday night.
"We're a big family," said Joel McGuire, Lake Region High's principal. "It hurts. But we will group together and continue."
McGuire planned to have crisis counselors on campus today for grieving students, he said. And, "We will pay our respects with a moment of silence on the intercom."
The accident happened a short distance from where two 17-year-old boys died in a Dec. 29, 2008, accident that was nearly identical in its circumstances.
The two girls were the only ones in the vehicle and it is not known who was driving, the Sheriff's office said. Neither girl was wearing a seat belt.
The girls apparently were thrown from the 1991 Nissan Pathfinder they were in when it struck a power pole and rolled over before 2:25 a.m. Sunday, the Sheriff's Office reported.
Smith, who was lying near the vehicle, was pulled away from it by two reserve deputies just before it burst into flames, the Sheriff's Office reported. |
