Lawmakers spent an hour on the first day of the 2016 Legislative session memorializing five Georgia Southern University nursing students who were killed last April in a tragic crash on Interstate 16.
“These young ladies had huge hearts and had made a life of giving back to their community,” said Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle. “This tragedy, a tragic accident, occurred actually in the early hours of the morning while these students were traveling to serve others in the Savannah hospital.”
Cagle joined the victims’ families, Gov. Nathan Deal, and accident survivors Megan Richards, of Loganville, and Brittney McDaniel, of Reidsville at the ceremony, which also included a candle lighting and offering of memorial gifts for the victims’ families.
Emily Clark, 20, of Powder Springs; Morgan Bass, 20, of Leesburg; Abbie Deloach, 21, of Savannah; Catherine "McKay" Pittman, 21, of Alpharetta; and Caitlyn Baggett, 21, of Millen, were killed when a tractor-trailer crashed into their two SUV's. The students were traveling to their last day of clinical rotations of the semester.
Dr. Sharon Radzyminski, Chair of the School of Nursing at Georgia Southern University, said the five students were “deeply spiritual” and “deeply determined to make the world a better place.” She said the students had been involved in mission trips and a Sunday school program for needy children before being admitted into the nursing program.
“The silver linings of this dark cloud are definitely Megan Richards and Brittney McDaniel,” said Emily McGuire, president of Georgia Southern University Student Nurses’ Association. She said having the two survivors by their side the past semester “made the pain a little easier and helped inspire” the other students.
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