Roadside Vigil held for teen killed in crash

Family, friends and classmates attended a vigil near the crash site on Wednesday night.

Friends and family of a young man killed in a crash east of Chestermere gathered to honour him at a roadside vigil on Wednesday night.

Jaydon Sommerfeld, 17, was involved in a three vehicle crash at the intersection of Highway 1 and Highway 791 on Tuesday at about 4:00 p.m.

He was airlifted to Foothills Medical Centre in life threatening condition and later died from his injuries.

A 16-year-old girl in the same vehicle remains in hospital.

A roadside vigil was held for the teen where the crash happened and was attended by family, friends and students from his high school.

The Mayor of Chestermere, Patricia Matthews, released a statement on Wednesday saying…

As a mother of teenagers, I can’t imagine the pain and anguish these families must be going through.”

This is the worst news that any parent can get. On behalf of Council and staff at the City, I extend our deepest sympathies to everyone involved, especially this boy’s family. Our thoughts and prayers are with them during this very difficult time.

As a community member, I know that our entire community will rally around this family in their time of need. As we have done in other tragedies, I expect we will come together to support them in any way we can.

As a Mayor, it is especially devastating that this would happen just as the City is seeing Alberta Transportation construct a safer intersection for residents, students, and the general public.

We anxiously await the final implementation of an interchange at this location. We will continue to advocate to Alberta Transportation for improvements to this intersection so heartbreaking accidents like this one can be avoided in the future.

A long-term planning study was conducted by the province to identify requirements for an interchange at the intersection but there is no clear date on when that will happen.

The area MLA says she will also be talking to the transportation minister to explore short-term solutions until funding is found to improve the intersection.

(With files from Ina Sidhu)