G O N E...
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R.I.P. Caitlin Brideau
November 30th, 2006
♥
Though I fully admit that I sparsely spoke to Caitlin and barely conversed with her more than the occasional smile in the hallways, her death is a loss that will take a toll in the heart of every student at L'Anse Creuse High School.
For those who don't know, Caitlin was involved in a tragic car accident on the late morning of November 30th. The accident took place on South River Rd., near Columbia Rd. and Rivercrest Rd. During the time of the accident, a heavy rain was falling and the driver lost control of the vehicle while turning because of hydroplaning, a phenomenon in which a vehicle's tires ride on top of the water rather than the road itself, which causes control problems. During the curve, the car completely spun out so the passenger's side of the car was facing a barrage of oncoming traffic. Unfortunately, a Ford F-150 pickup truck was just leaving the blind side of the curve and collided head-on into the passenger's side of the vehicle with Caitlin in the "shotgun".
The driver was Chelsea Verdoin, who was noted to have been driving relatively normally and was not at fault for the accident, suffered a closed-head injury and was put into a medically induced coma to prevent further brain swelling. After a day of careful observation and care, Chelsea was taken off her ventilator and is presently in an ICU and is expected to recover.
Andrea Walgrave was a passenger in the vehicle. After the accident, she was relatively unharmed, except for a large gash that took up a wide expanse of her forehead and the side of her head, which can be repaired and restored with proper suturing. She is expected to make a full recovery.
Michael Turner was another passenger in the vehicle. He suffered only minor injuries, but claims to remember almost none of the horrendous events that occured. He has since recovered and is in stable condition and expect to attend school again this coming Monday.
The driver of the F-150 (name unknown) was severely injured as well and has been reported to be in critical condition. Little is known about his wellbeing.
Caitlin Brideau, travelling on the front-passenger seat, was hit with the full impact of the collision. She suffered terrible injuries, including but not limited to: severe brain damage, pelvic shattering, internal organ damage and internal bleeding. Upon arrival to the emergency room, Caitlin's spleen was removed in an attempt to preserve the dying organ and get it to function again. She was announced to be in critical condition a few hours after the accident and her mortality rate was high.
Tragically, Caitlin lost her fight for life, and was pronounced deceased sometime in the late afternoon (I have heard times of 7:00, 10:00, and as early at 5:00, it has not been officially declared yet) after being disconnected from life support. Her mother, who was on a plane ride to Colorado when she was informed about the accident, immediately left Colorado and flew back to Michigan to see what was going on. Caitlin was unable to operate on her own and was living off of life support, nothing else. The doctors felt it necessary to keep her body alive long enough for her mother to give her one last goodbye before her body went cold forever...
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The death of Caitlin Brideau will always be in our memories. She was a wonderful, beautiful young woman, and the bitter sting of death hit her at far too early of an age. It was truly, truly unfair for her to die this way, or in any way, this early in her life. At 17 years old, she hadn't even lived one quarter of her life, only to have it all taken away. We hope and pray for Caitlin's family and dearly hope that they will make it through this horrible, tragic accident, but we also pray for Caitlin's best friend Chelsea, who we hope will understand it was not her fault that she died...
Caitlin will be, undoubtedly, missed. By friends, by family, by casual acquaintances, even by classmates she had never known. I'd like to believe that even those who hadn't met her were still affected by her wonderful work in the marching band and inspired by her positive attitude.
As mentioned at the top, I did not have the pleasure of being very close to Caitlin, and at this moment I'd give anything to have her back here on Earth so I could find out who she truly was. I will admit that I shed many tears this morning during the mourning service and I am not ashamed. I feel that Caitlin's death was purely unfair and tragic, and she will most certainly be missed. I cannot believe that in the blink of an eye, she would be gone so fast and for so long over one impact of two vehicles who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
We love you, Caitlin.
Heaven can always use another angel.
R.I.P. Caitlin Brideau
November 30th, 2006
♥
Though I fully admit that I sparsely spoke to Caitlin and barely conversed with her more than the occasional smile in the hallways, her death is a loss that will take a toll in the heart of every student at L'Anse Creuse High School.
For those who don't know, Caitlin was involved in a tragic car accident on the late morning of November 30th. The accident took place on South River Rd., near Columbia Rd. and Rivercrest Rd. During the time of the accident, a heavy rain was falling and the driver lost control of the vehicle while turning because of hydroplaning, a phenomenon in which a vehicle's tires ride on top of the water rather than the road itself, which causes control problems. During the curve, the car completely spun out so the passenger's side of the car was facing a barrage of oncoming traffic. Unfortunately, a Ford F-150 pickup truck was just leaving the blind side of the curve and collided head-on into the passenger's side of the vehicle with Caitlin in the "shotgun".
The driver was Chelsea Verdoin, who was noted to have been driving relatively normally and was not at fault for the accident, suffered a closed-head injury and was put into a medically induced coma to prevent further brain swelling. After a day of careful observation and care, Chelsea was taken off her ventilator and is presently in an ICU and is expected to recover.
Andrea Walgrave was a passenger in the vehicle. After the accident, she was relatively unharmed, except for a large gash that took up a wide expanse of her forehead and the side of her head, which can be repaired and restored with proper suturing. She is expected to make a full recovery.
Michael Turner was another passenger in the vehicle. He suffered only minor injuries, but claims to remember almost none of the horrendous events that occured. He has since recovered and is in stable condition and expect to attend school again this coming Monday.
The driver of the F-150 (name unknown) was severely injured as well and has been reported to be in critical condition. Little is known about his wellbeing.
Caitlin Brideau, travelling on the front-passenger seat, was hit with the full impact of the collision. She suffered terrible injuries, including but not limited to: severe brain damage, pelvic shattering, internal organ damage and internal bleeding. Upon arrival to the emergency room, Caitlin's spleen was removed in an attempt to preserve the dying organ and get it to function again. She was announced to be in critical condition a few hours after the accident and her mortality rate was high.
Tragically, Caitlin lost her fight for life, and was pronounced deceased sometime in the late afternoon (I have heard times of 7:00, 10:00, and as early at 5:00, it has not been officially declared yet) after being disconnected from life support. Her mother, who was on a plane ride to Colorado when she was informed about the accident, immediately left Colorado and flew back to Michigan to see what was going on. Caitlin was unable to operate on her own and was living off of life support, nothing else. The doctors felt it necessary to keep her body alive long enough for her mother to give her one last goodbye before her body went cold forever...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The death of Caitlin Brideau will always be in our memories. She was a wonderful, beautiful young woman, and the bitter sting of death hit her at far too early of an age. It was truly, truly unfair for her to die this way, or in any way, this early in her life. At 17 years old, she hadn't even lived one quarter of her life, only to have it all taken away. We hope and pray for Caitlin's family and dearly hope that they will make it through this horrible, tragic accident, but we also pray for Caitlin's best friend Chelsea, who we hope will understand it was not her fault that she died...
Caitlin will be, undoubtedly, missed. By friends, by family, by casual acquaintances, even by classmates she had never known. I'd like to believe that even those who hadn't met her were still affected by her wonderful work in the marching band and inspired by her positive attitude.
As mentioned at the top, I did not have the pleasure of being very close to Caitlin, and at this moment I'd give anything to have her back here on Earth so I could find out who she truly was. I will admit that I shed many tears this morning during the mourning service and I am not ashamed. I feel that Caitlin's death was purely unfair and tragic, and she will most certainly be missed. I cannot believe that in the blink of an eye, she would be gone so fast and for so long over one impact of two vehicles who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
We love you, Caitlin.
Heaven can always use another angel.