Family and friends pay tribute to Jersey Mitchell with car rally

Family and Friends honour Jersey Mitchell A car rally was held in Barrie on Saturday to honour Jersey Mitchell, one of six young adults killed in a crash on McKay Road last summer.

Family and friends are honouring one of the six people who lost their lives in a crash on McKay Road last summer.

Around 50 cars from across the province attended a car rally to honour Jersey Mitchell on Saturday, starting from the McKay Road construction crash site and ending in Angus.

"It just makes me feel so happy inside to know that everybody cared about her that much and that she was so well-liked within the community," said Erin Mitchell, the mother of Jersey Mitchell. "I call her my backbone. She gave me the courage to be the mom I am today."

According to her mom, organizers chose a car rally to honour Jersey because it was one of her passions in life.

Erik Baxter was a friend of Jersey's who attended the rally and said every day is challenging without the six of them.

"We're doing this just so that we can remember them and give them the love that they deserve and that they got when they were here with us, whether they're here in person or in spirit," Baxter said. "She was very charismatic. Every room she walked into, she just brought a certain type of light to everybody there."

Erin said it's hard to live every day without her, but celebrations of her life like this one make it a little easier.

"She was my firstborn, my daughter. It's extremely hard, but I know she would want us to live on in her memory as well so I'm trying to do that for her," she added. "People that I don't even know have reached out to me. It's such an amazing, I don't even know how to describe the warmth I've felt from everybody."

Jersey Mitchell's family and friends plan on making the car rally an annual event to remember her.

A separate event will honour another victim in the crash this weekend.

Luke West's Barrie Bombers Jr. C Lacrosse team number will be retired in a ceremony before its game on Sunday.