Wetaskiwin mourns two high school students killed in collision: “It’s heartbreaking” | The Canadian News

The Wetaskiwin community is in mourning.

“It doesn’t feel real,” Alexis Kalymchuk said Sunday, fighting back tears as she spoke about the death of her two friends in central Alberta.

Weston Pitcher and Bradyn Heinz, seniors at Wetaskiwin Composite High School, were killed Friday night when the vehicle they were in control lost control and went off the road around 11 p.m.

Three other teens were injured in the single-vehicle crash north of Wetaskiwin, on Highway 814 and Township Road 475 near Millet.

STARS Air Ambulance took them to an Edmonton hospital in serious but stable condition.

Wetaskiwin Regional Public Schools supt. Peter Barron told Global News that the five students were in grade 12 in high school.

Kalymchuk said she was good friends with all the guys in the vehicle: “I was pretty much the only girl in the group, and I felt very included, and it was so nice.”

“They didn’t deserve any of this.”

They were part of a large group of friends who, according to Kalymchuk, did all the normal things teenagers do: they met at each other’s houses, had bonfires, and went on a trip to Edmonton.

“As soon as everyone found out, it’s everything everyone’s been talking about and everything they’re going to talk about for a while, I’m pretty sure,” Kalymchuk said, adding that they had already been looking forward to the end of October. . .

“We had plans, the guys and I… like a Halloween party and things like that, and I just… I’m sorry, I don’t know. This is a lot, ”said the excited teenager, struggling to find the words to express the depth of her pain.

It’s an emotion that Mayor Tyler Gandam said the entire Wetaskiwin community is grappling with.

“It is absolutely heartbreaking. A city of 13,000 inhabitants, it is not a question of knowing them; that’s how you know them, ”Gandam said Sunday.

“For the children moving forward, the children in the collision, the families who have lost their children … I don’t know how to get over that.”

Gandam said the tragedy is further exacerbated by Thanksgiving weekend.

“Families are supposed to be reuniting, and now we are dealing with a loss like this in our community, and for families who have lost children, classmates have lost students and friends … it’s heartbreaking.”

The school division said its crisis response team will be there for students, parents and staff in need.

When school resumes on Tuesday, several schools will have counselors available for any student who may need help fixing this loss.

WRPS advised individuals who need additional support or assistance to call the child’s school. Those phone numbers can can be found on the main WRPS website.

Gandam said the city will show its support even if necessary.

“Wetaskiwin is an amazing city where they absolutely come together to make sure families have the support they need, and that is what we will do.

“We will wait to hear what the families need and we will come together to make sure they have the support of the community.”

RCMP continues to investigate the accident and the cause is still unknown.

– With files from Jessika Guse and Breanna Karstens-Smith, Global News