Slippery Rock reeling after crash
Dan Ferguson went numb when he heard that two more Slippery Rock Area High School students had died, victims in a one-car crash Friday night.
Ferguson understands the community's grief, but also the personal grief that the parents of Benjamin Bicehouse and Jason Yakima face. Ferguson's son, Joe Vedilago, and three fellow Slippery Rock High students died in a car wreck on New Year's Day.
"There's nothing that anyone can say. There's really no words for it," Ferguson said as he left services Sunday at St. Peter's Catholic Church in Slippery Rock. "This is a small community, and it's a lot of tragedy for one community to bear."
Bicehouse, 16, of Prospect and Yakima, 16, of Portersville bring the death toll to eight for Slippery Rock High School students this school year.
Bicehouse was driving a 2000 Ford Windstar van with five passengers when the vehicle struck a tree on Kelly Road in Worth Township about 10 p.m. Bicehouse and Yakima were pronounced dead at the scene.
Three of the van's passengers, Kurt Speicher, 16, of Portersville; Richard Lee, 15, of Prospect; and Micah Kelley, 16, of Slippery Rock were treated at Butler area hospitals and released. Another passenger, Benjamin Campbell, 15, of Slippery Rock was treated and released at Children's Hospital in Oakland.
School representatives, students and residents continued to grapple with the most recent losses yesterday. Slippery Rock district officials announced at a news conference that 20 outside counselors will be at the high school today for students, staff and teachers. About 757 students attend Slippery Rock Area High School.
Those killed in the New Year's Day accident were Vedilago, 18; Adam Protzman, 16; Ryan McCaffrey, 16; and Sarah Steiner, 15, who formerly attended Carrick High School.
Another student, Nicole Cyphert, 14, died in November after being struck by a car in Slippery Rock. And Ashley Anderson, 17, a junior at Slippery Rock, succumbed to viral encephalitis on Feb. 8.
"In my 40-plus years (in education), I've never been in a district that has experienced so much pain in a short time," said Slippery Rock Superintendent Lee Beaton. "This is mind-boggling. It's very difficult trying to comfort students."
Robert Watson, president of Slippery Rock School Board, said everyone in the district is experiencing the losses in a personal way. Watson relayed a story about how he tried to talk to his daughter, a 17-year-old student at the school. He told her to keep faith in her friends and family.
"Our daughter turned to me and, with tears in her eyes, said, 'How can I rely upon my friends, Dad, when so many of them are dying?'" Watson said. "That is a difficult question to answer, and one being asked by so many of our students and our families."
The eight students who died were active in school and well-known and popular both with other students and staff.
Yakima and Bicehouse, both sophomores, were active in sports. Yakima participated in basketball and track and field and Bicehouse was on the soccer team and played the lead role in a recent school play.
Junior Joe Rudish, 17, said he knew six of the eight students who died.
"I don't know how many more deaths we can handle," said Rudish, who was working at the BP in Slippery Rock. "When someone dies, the halls are silent for about a week. No one knows what to say."
Eric Elder, 15, said there is an awkwardness in the community, a state of depression — but he said the overt expressions of sadness don't seem to last.
"People are really upset for the first few days, and then after awhile they act like nothing has happened," he said. "I wish it wasn't like that. Maybe people will learn something this time around."
Visitation for Bicehouse will be from 4 to 9 p.m. today at the Raisley Funeral Home, 386 Main St., Prospect. The funeral will start at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Community Alliance Church of Butler.
Visitation for Yakima will be from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. today in the Smith Funeral Home, 421 New Castle St., Slippery Rock. The funeral will start at 11 a.m. Tuesday in The Presbyterian Church of Portersville.
