Young Trent Hills woman dies day short of 20th birthday after crash
HASTINGS -- A funeral will take place Saturday for a young Trent Hills woman who died after a single vehicle crash Friday night on County Rd. 45 north of Hastings in Asphodel-Norwood Township.
Cassidey Rae Ouellette, 19, was airlifted to a Toronto hospital with critical injuries but succumbed to her injuries Saturday, Peterborough County OPP said Tuesday afternoon.
A passing motorist first noticed a vehicle that had rolled into the ditch before discovering the female driver, who had been ejected, police said.
The road was closed for several hours for an investigation by OPP technical collision investigators.
The reconstructionists had not yet reported which direction the vehicle was travelling, media relations officer Const. Jason Folz said.
Ouellette, a former bartender who was studying dental hygiene at Durham College, died one day short of her 20th birthday.
Her mother, Christine Milligan, took to Facebook on Saturday night to publicly thank the first responders and health care providers at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and Campbellford Memorial Hospital who tried to save her daughter.
“Cassidey made it known and we as parents for the last time supported her in her decision to donate her organs,” she wrote. “Cass was very lucky she will be able to save up to eight lives. The biggest being her heart. I love you around the world and back again ... All my love, Mamabear.”
Others also took to the social media website to pay tribute.
“You always knew how to brighten someone’s day with your cheerful personality and beautiful smile,” wrote Cassidy Plummer, a former co-worker at Little Ts dance and night club in Belleville.
“I am heartbroken and lost for words. You were always such a fun, bubbly, kind and funny girl,” Karlene Lily Grenier wrote.
A makeshift memorial including a red wreath and flowers has been erected at the crash site across from 1560 County Rd. 45, north of Old Orchard Rd.
Visitation will take place at the Brighton Funeral Home at 130 Main Street in Brighton from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. on Friday. A memorial service will be then held at St. Paul’s United Church in Warkworth at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
The family is asking that memorial donations be made to the Trent Hills Fire Department or the Brain Injury Association Quinte District.
NOTE: See related story on A2.