They were five young women with bigger-than-life dreams — after final exams. But first, they had gone to pray, and the five were dancing and singing as they piled back in a friend’s car.
Instead, the five never made it back to campus.
One year ago today, on a two-lane country road, a crash claimed four lives and left the fifth friend fighting to survive. The crash devastated five families and the entire UGA community. But through the overwhelming sadness, the students' legacies continue to impact other lives. Their families are forever bonded.
“When I look back after a year, I choose to focus on what this event has created in a positive aspect, which is people coming together,” Leigh Ann Williams told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I feel like we are all now deeply intertwined. It’s created a greater good and a greater being than anyone could ever expect.”
Williams lost her cousin, Halle Grace Scott, 19, in the crash. Also killed were Brittany Katherine Feldman and Kayla Leigh Canedo, both 20, and Christina Devon Semeria, 19.
And lastly, there was Agnes Kim, the oldest of the five. She’d been the resident assistant for her younger friends for their first year at UGA. Agnes was days from graduating the night her car crossed the center line and hit a car traveling the opposite direction.
Agnes survived, but was comatose for weeks, and from an Athens hospital, she was moved to the Shepherd Center in Atlanta. Her family has not spoken publicly about her recovery, but friends have said she continues to improve.
The five friends, all unique with their own talents and dreams, brought their families together and countless others. A year later, there are countless physical reminders of that impact, including scholarship funds, benches at parks on the UGA campus, and even a fire pit next to the waters of Lake Allatoona. Today, the families of the four who died are gathering for a memorial service at the UGA chapel.
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