Town ‘numb’ After football team members injured
Three remain in hospital after truck collides with two other vehicles
The mayor of Magrath says residents in the small southern Alberta town are “numb” after five high school football players were injured in a highway crash Thursday night.
“It’s sort of paralyzed the town,” said Mayor Russ Barnett. “We’re numb. You want to help, but we can’t. There’s nothing we can do to help these kids recover except for time.”
A post on Facebook by Football Alberta identifies the injured teammates of the Raymond High School Comets as Nate Dick, Mason Stock, Jaxon Gruninger, Hale Ogden and Garrett Stock from Magrath, about 35 kilometres south of Lethbridge.
Barnett said three of the five players remain in hospital as of Friday.
Local media reports Dick and Mason Stock suffered head injuries in the crash while Gruninger suffered a broken leg and neck. Ogden and Garrett Stock sustained unspecified injuries.
Dick and Garrett Stock are in Grade 10, Ogden is in Grade 11, and both Mason Stock and Gruninger are in Grade 12.
Counselling services will be made available at Raymond High School on Saturday for anyone in the community affected by the crash.
Police said they were called to the intersection of highways 5 and 52 near Raymond on Thursday around 5:45 p.m.
Mounties said the three-vehicle collision occurred when a northbound truck hauling a trailer collided with a westbound truck as it was entering the highway.
All five players were travelling in the westbound truck. A southbound car was also involved in the wreck, police said.
Two of the players were taken to a Lethbridge-area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and another player was brought to Calgary via ground ambulance.
Mark Oddan, spokesman for STARS Air Ambulance, said two helicopters flew one mission each to a Lethbridge hospital on Thursday night, transporting two of the players to the Foothills Medical Centre.
One player is considered to have life-threatening injuries, while two have serious non-life-threatening injuries.
The female driver of the car was transported to hospital in Lethbridge with non-life-threatening injuries, while the lone male occupant of the northbound truck was treated for minor injuries at the scene and released.
Const. Mike Hibbs with Alberta RCMP said police from the Raymond detachment are working with a collision analyst at the crash site.
On Twitter, the Southern Alberta Minor Football Association said “five Raymond High School football players from Magrath were in a car accident today.”
Barnett said the five young men are well-known in the town of less than 2,500 people.
“Everybody is praying and hoping for them, for sure,” Barnett said. “We’re all wondering what we can do to help, but what do you do?”
Officials cancelled Friday’s scheduled game between the Raymond High School Comets and the Catholic Central High School Cougars in Lethbridge.
“Coaching staff from Catholic Central and Raymond High Schools have mutually agreed to cancel the game given the impact of the accident on the players and communities,” a Facebook post from Raymond High School reads.
Westwind School Division No. 74 said in a Facebook post Thursday that students, staff and community members have been deeply affected by the crash and the division’s “sole focus remains with supporting those injured and their families.”
“This is a heartbreaking and tragic accident, and we recognize that students and families from several of our schools and communities will be impacted by it,” the post reads.
Members of Alberta’s minor football community used social media to extend their sympathies to the injured players’ families and the communities of Magrath and Raymond.
The Edmonton Wildcats said on Twitter their “thoughts are with the young men of Raymond Comets and their families as they deal with very difficult situation.”
Jason Lafferty, head coach of St. Albert’s Bellerose Composite High School Bulldogs, said on Twitter his heart and thoughts are with the all those members of Southern Alberta football community affected by the crash.
Calls to Raymond High School were not immediately returned.
Everybody is praying and hoping for them, for sure. We’re all wondering what we can do to help, but what do you do?