Teens On Teen Driving

YOUTUBE MEMORIAL VIDEO LINK

What Happened:

Paul Bickford and Roxanna Thompson
Northern News Services http://www.nnsl.com/frames/newspapers/2008-12/dec1_08acc.html
Published Monday, December 1, 2008

THEBACHA/FORT SMITH - The RCMP have charged a 16-year-old boy with criminal negligence causing death and dangerous driving causing death in connection with an accident that killed a Fort Smith girl. The name of the accused cannot be released under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

A teenaged girl died as the result of the accident. The victim was 16-year-old Keisha Trudel, originally from Fort Simpson. According to a Fort Smith RCMP news release, they were called to a residence in the early evening of Nov. 23 and advised a vehicle there had been involved in a collision. Upon arrival, the RCMP were alerted to a female suffering from life-threatening injuries. The victim was immediately taken to hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries.

The RCMP report alcohol and speed appear to have been factors in the accident. Plus, none of the occupants in the vehicle were wearing seatbelts. None of the other occupants were injured.

The accident occurred when the driver of the vehicle lost control on a snow-covered road. Trudel was in Fort Smith with her mother, who is studying at Aurora College to become a teacher. The teenaged victim is being remembered by her sister, Charlene Gargan of Fort Simpson, as a wonderful person. "She was always smiling," Gargan said. "She got along with everyone." Gargan, 18, said her sister's smile will be missed. "She was a happy person, open-minded and got along with everyone," Gargan added. "She was basically a people person." Gargan, who shared the same father as Trudel, said her sister divided her time between living with her mother in Fort Simpson and her father in Alberta.

Trudel spent part of this past summer in Fort Smith and began attending Paul William Kaeser high school in September, her sister said. "She made a lot of friends in the short time she was there." She added her sister was also involved in sports - volleyball in Fort Smith and basketball and track and field when in Fort Simpson.

Students at Thomas Simpson school in Fort Simpson mourned the loss of their former classmate. Social workers and staff members of the Dehcho Divisional Education Council were at the school on Nov. 24 to help students cope with the loss. "She was pretty close to a strong handful of kids," said school principal Robert Byatt. Trudel moved in and out of the village and her classmates were always excited when they'd find out she was returning to school with them, said Byatt. "She attended daycare with some of the kids," he said.

A small memorial gathering for Trudel was held at the school on Nov. 25. Students organized the gathering and designed programs for it. "It's an opportunity for kids to get together and do some grieving together," Byatt said.