Two-time state diving champion Maisey O’Donnell was one of the three high school seniors killed in a car crash this week … a tragedy that took place during their spring break vacation in Florida.
The incident happened on Monday night on Highway 98 near Panama City … when an SUV carrying O’Donnell and three others crashed with a tractor-trailer that was making a U-turn in the median.
The force of the crash sent the SUV over the median … and it finally came to a stop in the woods nearby.
Two Concord-Carlisle High School students, the driver Jimmy McIntosh and passenger Hannah Wasserman, were pronounced dead at the scene.
O’Donnell, 18, was transported to the Bay Medical Center in critical condition … but later passed away. A fourth student remains in critical condition.
The driver of the trailer was uninjured.
O’Donnell was a two-time Massachusetts state diving champion and earned several other awards, including MVP and 1st Team All-State honors. She planned to attend Williams College in the fall.
Boston Area Diving coach Joe Chirico called her one of the best in the country.
“It’s a tragedy,” Chirico said.
“The little kids looked up to her; the other divers looked up to her. It’s a tragedy that somebody at the top of their game, going to the best academic school, one of the best divers in the nation, was cut so short.”
The Florida Highway Patrol is still investigating the crash.
