Jamie Woodford & Sharon Ulrich
SOUTHERN ALBERTA NEWSPAPERS — MAGRATH
The town of Magrath is in mourning after four of its young people perished on the weekend.
Danae Gough and Jorden Miller, both 14, and 16-year-olds Clay Card and Renzo Dainard died in a single-vehicle rollover early Sunday morning east of Magrath.
Students at Magrath Junior-Senior High School were in shock and disbelief Monday to learn the fate of their classmates.
“It's horrible. It's like a dream. It's like they're going to come back tomorrow and everything is going to be fine,” said Grade 9 student Ally Trabaglia, who was close friends with Gough and Miller.
Police found the teens' car upside down and partially submerged in Pothole Creek just east of Magrath at 5:45 a.m. Sunday, about four hours after the teens were reported missing by parents. Speed and driver inexperience are believed to be the cause of the crash, according to RCMP.
Const. Nathan Moore of the Raymond/Magrath RCMP said Monday he had no knowledge of any other accidents on that particular stretch of road, and the area has never been a safety concern in his four years at the detachment.
He described the site of the crash as being quite curvy.
“It's very dark there. It curves to the north and then back to the south after it goes over the (creek), and there's a dip in the road and I think that's where you can't really see the bridge until you’re right on it,” he said. “If you're going the speed limit it shouldn't be an issue, and I think it was just maybe he was going too fast.”
Although Moore didn't have the collision analyst’s report yet, he said it appears the vehicle hit the guard rail and flew through the air, turning upside down before landing on the opposite bank of the creek.
The loss of life has sent the whole community “reeling,” according to Magrath Mayor Russ Barnett.
“It affects so many people. In a small town where everybody is related and knows everybody, it just impacts the community on many levels; our school, the youth. We’re feeling the impact of this accident as a whole community and it’s hurting a lot in our community.”
However, being a close-knit community will assist loved ones through the grieving process, Barnett added. Sharing memories during Sunday night’s candlelight vigil was the start of the process that will take families and loved ones time to work through. He encouraged the families of the four teens to reach out to the community for help, and wants them to know the community will be supportive.
“Families should have all the time needed to go through that grieving process.”
The community has, unfortunately, been touched by a tragedy involving its youth in the recent past. A head-on collision on Highway 5 near Welling claimed the lives of three Magrath teens in 1996.
While this is a difficult time for everyone, Jamie McMahon, Magrath LDS Stake president, is confident the community will respond appropriately.
“As we move forward as a community, one of the things two or three of the parents mentioned (at Sunday’s vigil) is these kids would have wanted us to move forward and be kind to each other, to love each other a little bit more and, I think, rally around each other and support each other,” he said. “It certainly doesn’t take away the burden, but it can ease the difficulty a little bit for the families and those that were really close to those kids.”
Many in the community were closer to the four teens than McMahon. Yet, he knew each of them and their families well. His own kids are the same age, and he’s been both a coach and a part of their lives to some extent.
“Every interaction I had with them, they were wonderful kids.”
Those sentiments were echoed at the vigil when classmates shared memories and reflected on their friendships.
“Every one of the boys said that either Renzo or Clay had been their best friend for years. It was really interesting how many people felt these kids were their best friend. I think that shows the kinds of kids that they were,” said McMahon.
Trabaglia lovingly called Gough and Miller the “craziest girls I could ever meet.”
“I could talk to them about anything, like if I was depressed I could talk to them. If you needed to talk to somebody they were there . . . They were just so loving . . . I loved them,” she said.
Grade 8 students Josh Mackenzie and Matt Thomson fondly recalled their friends Card and Dainard.
“The two boys were really nice. Really friendly,” Mackenzie said. “They were in Grade 11, but they were really good friends.”
Thomson said the situation is, as expected, tough on everyone.
“It's hard for everyone. Some of them can't believe it actually happened,” he said.
The school community is also working through the tragic loss of four of its students.
With thoughts and prayers extending to the families, the Westwind School Division crisis response team was on hand Monday to help students and staff work through the grieving process.
The four students were “good kids and they’re going to be missed,” said Magrath High School principal Rob Doig.  “It’s a somber day at the school today. We are trying to do all we can to support the students and the staff and those involved  here.”
Dealing with the different needs of students in a sensitive manner, Doig recognizes it takes time for students to be comfortable talking to the crisis response team, and that each student will be different in terms of what they need.
“We’re just trying to support the kids as much as we can, but in no way do we want to, or can we replace or overstep the role the parents have in this, or even the role their ecclesiastical leaders have in it,” he said.
As funeral services were being arranged Monday, McMahon said it will be a time to unify the community and to express love and appreciation in celebration of those teen’s lives.
“Although we are predominantly an LDS community, in a situation like this it doesn’t matter your faith. You love these families. The people of Magrath are very faithful people, regardless of their religious affiliation and it’s a time to be united as a community, as people who have faith in God and Jesus Christ, and that faith eventually will provide the strength and the peace and the comfort that I think will be healing to the individuals and the families that have been affected by this,” he said.
“A tragedy can tear us apart or it can bring us together.”