By Nigel Maxwell

Community grieves recent grad who died in crash

Jun 29, 2016 | 12:28 PM

During final exam week, grief counsellors have assembled at Debden School.

They are there to provide support after a student who graduated from the school two weeks ago, died in a single vehicle collision yesterday.

Shaye Amundson, 18, was killed Tuesday morning after her vehicle rolled into a body of water near the community.

According to RCMP, she was driving on a grid road and lost control. There were bodies of water on both sides of the road and Amundson’s vehicle went in on one side of the road where it completely submerged.  When paramedics and RCMP arrived, Amundson was declared deceased at the scene.

Debden School Principal Dan Jean said it is a very tough day at the school, adding Amundson was well liked.

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“She was our student council leader, captain of our hockey team, ball team. She was involved in every sport you could imagine. (She was) academically strong and just a bubbly personality,” Jean said.

Amundson attended Debden School from kindergarten straight through to Grade 12. Jean said news of the student’s death is equally hard on staff as it is for students.

“She becomes a family member. We look at all of these students as our kids and when something happens, it happens to our own kids,” he said.

Jean said the community support is very strong and he passed along his condolences to the Amundson family.

In addition to her active school life, Amundson was a member of the P.A. Aces fast pitch team.

The team won silver at this year’s provincials, and gold last year.  The teen also played with the team at Westerns and Nationals

Stephanie Ripplinger, vice-president of the Alcan Development Fastpitch Organization said Amundson was always there for her team.

“She had amazing team spirit, she was always cheering, she was always giving her team the confidence they needed,” Ripplinger said adding Amundson had a lot of friends.

“Anybody that was Shaye’s friend was a best friend, she was just that person that it didn’t matter who you were, you were her friend,” she said. 

P.A. Minor Softball posted this comment on Facebook:

“Today the Aces family has lost someone so special!! There are so many broken hearts… Shaye, thank you for always sharing that smile, cheering your heart out and just being you!! We are all so lucky to have had you in our family!! WE LOVE YOU.”

Another woman wrote:

“Such a beautiful girl inside and out. God gained another sweet angel yesterday.”

Sayge Elderkin played with Amundson on the Aces team.
 
This past season was Elderkin’s rookie year and she said she looked up to the 18-year-old.
 
“Everything she did for ball was just 110, like she gave it a buck-fifty,” Elderkin said. “She was our smallest girl but she was our fastest runner; she would lap everybody.”
 
Elderkin said she does not want to believe her friend is dead.
 
“I don’t know when the funeral is and I’m just really scared for that because if I go there, it means it’s true,” she said.

Amundson’s funeral will be at 2:22 p.m. Monday, July 4 at the St. Jean Baptiste RC church in Debden. She played ball a team called the 222’s, thus the time of the funeral.

 In lieu of tributes, the family is asking memorial donations be directed to Project Triple Play, the Debden Recreation Board or a charity of the donor’s choice.

nmaxwell@panow.com

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell