<p>We lose either 1 or 2 people per class :[</p>
<p>It scares me. I do not want to describe the deaths though…it is usually a car wreck.</p>
<p>'10 class was a wreck. 1 died, 1 went to the hospital, 1 was unscathed.</p>
<p>Out of the 3 guys in this, the guy that died, was the one I was closest to.</p>
<p>Class '13 was a freak accident during a baseball game.</p>
<p>In 08, one my classmates wrecked her ATV.</p>
<p>Yesterday, one of my friends wrecked due to texting and driving.</p>
<p>^^^ Indeed. </p>
<p>When I was 16, one of my really good friends died. She was slow (mentally) so my dad and I had taken her under our wings for 10 years. We were also really close to the family. That was one of the hardest funerals I had ever been to. My dad and I bawled… my dad didn’t even shed a tear when his favorite uncle died. </p>
<p>Right at the very beginning of college (2 weeks in), my dad’s best friend died. That pretty much shattered my world because he had been a third parent to me my whole life. I’m actually starting to cry now as I type this because it still hurts so bad. He basically was my mother and father for a few years when my dad lost his memory and my mom had to work three jobs to support us. </p>
<p>Between my sophomore and junior year, my friend hung himself in his room. I couldn’t even bring myself to go to that funeral. I didn’t cope really well as this was about a month after the first death I mentioned.</p>
<p>Recently, a senior at my old high school that I knew and had classes with died. That was hard on everyone because she was very popular and very much loved. The whole school needed grief counselors for a while. </p>
<p>My best friend and ex-best friend (2 different people) both made suicide attempts that left them in the ER while in high school. Luckily, they didn’t die but it was really hard none the less.</p>
<p>There were a few other random deaths of acquaintances but none that I were particularly close to.</p>
<p>Oh, some kids died in a wreck at my school a few years back. Sharon Draper, then an English teacher wrote a book about it, which, despite its being incredibly depressing, is given to 7th graders as required reading. So, we heard about a kid who was driving while drunk. His friend had his feet up on the dashboard. When the car crashed, the friend’s feet went through the windshield, trapping him, so the driver escaped while the friend died. At the end, the driver shot himself.</p>
<p>Wow. That is seriously depressing.</p>
<p>One of girls (in our graduating class) was diagnosed with cancer, last year. It happened apparently right before school started, so she couldn’t attend school. Most of my freshmen class didn’t know her at all, especially since she came from a small middle school. We are hoping she’d make it through somehow but sadly she passed away 8 months later in May. Throughout the year, we tried to raise money, make cards, pay visits, etc. It’s sad that a lot of us didn’t know her at all. </p>
<p>It was strange because I had no idea she passed away, until I saw reading the obituaries in our local newspaper weeks later. I was shocked and heartbroken. My school decided not to publicize it for some reason - which is why a handful of us never found out.</p>
<p>A girl in my science class died after a surgery. It was strange because the school never bothered to remove her name from the attendance list and so whenever we had a substitute teacher they would say " Is so and so present"…and the class would reply “No, she’s dead”. Awkward silence.</p>
<p>also…4 different friends (and two family members) have been in mental hospitals for either homicidal/suicidal attempts/tendencies in the past 6 years or so</p>
<p>Aww man, that’s horrible. Our guidance people have to send out an e-mail to the person’s teachers to tell them to remove them off the attendance list so that won’t happen.</p>
<p>A football player from another school died while playing against my school at our stadium earlier in the school year. I was at the game, and I remember them stopping the game for a while, but I didn’t know what was wrong with the player. They eventually put him in an ambulance and it drove away. I didn’t learn that he had died until later on that night. Even though he was from another school, people at my school were still really affected by it. Our NHS raised money for his family and gave it to them. It was so sad. :(</p>
<p>@romulus at my hs that happened all the time. except it was more like “so and so got arrested” or “so and so dropped out” or “so and so is on maternity leave”</p>
<p>A really great guy (I didn’t know him but there were people literally passing out in the hallways when they found out) passed away from a staph infection from a minor scrape sophomore year. Teachers were sobbing, it was terrible and the school was just in a black mood for the longest time. We tied ribbons around the school’s trees and turned his locker into a miniature memorial.</p>
<p>Last year a sophomore at our other feeder school into senior high (we have 3 high schools, 2 are 9-10 and 1 is 11-12 due to senior class sizes of 1500+) died during football practice. He was legit, not a rude jock and overpracticed, which basically tired out his heart. Every football game this season and a page in the yearbook was dedicated to him.</p>
<p>One of last year’s seniors died in a car crash right before graduation. It was terrible. He lived right down the road from me.</p>
<p>They have a memorial at the spot where he crashed. I pass it every day. ><</p>
<p>I go to a fairly small public school, which I’ve attended for 11 years. As seniors, we have been an incredibly close class (only around 110 graduating) and unfortunately we were brought closer through tragedy. Our class treasurer, great friend, and all-around fantastic person Alton Yung passed away after a car accident on his way to school. He was in a coma for about 2 weeks, and during this time our school rallied together to raise close to $10,000 for his family and medical costs. When it became clear he could not fight any longer, his family came to us, his “school family” and personally made the announcement. The entire senior class somehow found our way into our senior lounge and made an amazing chalk walk in his memory. Since then, we have started a foundation in Alton’s name to continue his legacy. He was an amazing friend, who always had a smile for everyone. I can’t even explain how much everyone loved him, because it’s unexplainable. I miss him, every single day. But, so much positive has come out of it. Our class has become a true family, and I know that without Alton’s death that never would of happened. We went through some of the hardest moments of our lives together and that made us strong.
Today we completed Alton’s Eagle Scout project for him that will double as a memorial on our campus. We graduate Sunday, and Alton will still receive his diploma. His girlfriend, a fantastic young woman who has been the rock for all of us, will be singing “Forever Young” (a play on his last name) and I guarantee there will not be a dry eye.</p>
<p>It’s hard to say it’ll get better, because I know it doesn’t feel like it now. But I promise you it does. The person isn’t gone because they’re in your memory. They’ll always be with you, as long as you keep them in your thoughts.</p>
<p>For those of you who are interested in knowing more about Alton check these links out. His foundation website should be up soon. All donations go to his scholarship/research on traumatic brain injuries.</p>
<p>[Alton</a> Yung Foundation](<a href=“http://altonyung.com/]Alton”>http://altonyung.com/) ----foundation
[Pop</a> Up Video](<a href=“http://www.mysuncoast.com/global/video/flash/popupplayer.asp?ClipID1=4629954&h1=Pine%20View%20student%20passes%20away%20after%20two%20weeks%20in%20a%20coma&vt1=v&at1=Station%202&d1=170434&LaunchPageAdTag=Station%202&activePane=info&rnd=38612145]Pop”>http://www.mysuncoast.com/global/video/flash/popupplayer.asp?ClipID1=4629954&h1=Pine%20View%20student%20passes%20away%20after%20two%20weeks%20in%20a%20coma&vt1=v&at1=Station%202&d1=170434&LaunchPageAdTag=Station%202&activePane=info&rnd=38612145) ---- a video about Alton
[Pop</a> Up Video](<a href=“http://www.mysuncoast.com/global/video/flash/popupplayer.asp?ClipID1=4637213&h1=Memorial%20concert%20honors%20late%20Pine%20View%20student&vt1=v&at1=News&d1=56067&LaunchPageAdTag=News&activePane=info&rnd=5581636]Pop”>http://www.mysuncoast.com/global/video/flash/popupplayer.asp?ClipID1=4637213&h1=Memorial%20concert%20honors%20late%20Pine%20View%20student&vt1=v&at1=News&d1=56067&LaunchPageAdTag=News&activePane=info&rnd=5581636) ----a video about his concert. His girlfriend is the girl singing.</p>
<p>All of that is so beautiful and so true, esp. on dealing with the pain.</p>
<p>Scary how many people commented that numerous people died in their schools. My high school was really small (my graduating senior class had about 60 students), and one guy–my classmate–was hit by a car as a junior. It sent the whole school into mourning, they made a memorial for him. </p>
<p>What shook me up was that even though he sat right next to me, and I knew him as well as most people, I hardly ever spoke to him- he was quiet, and I don’t think he had many friends. After he died, everybody felt bad about not getting to know him better-- a lost opportunity. There are so many really nice people out there, but we’re too busy to bother to befriend them. And then one day somebody dies, and you think, “God, why didn’t I ever talk to them? I wish I could honestly tell his parents I was his friend. But instead I have to be polite and make it up instead. So sad.”</p>
<p>That is so sad and true Major. Thanks to your post, I’m gonna go talk to that guy I like tomorrow.</p>
<p>I think the saddest deaths were in elementary school, when you didn’t really know because no one wanted to ruin your childhood and tell you, figuring that no one had ever died in your life. But a boy, the older brother of a friend – my best friend’s best friend – died. I remember there being signs about him around the school beforehand, for either awareness or charity, I think. And then he died, so we never heard about him. It seemed like he was so much older than us then, but he must have been younger than most of us are here.</p>
<p>Other things when I was little: my neighbor, my brother’s friend, Marcus, died in a car crash. He was about 17. His father runs a funeral home, so I suppose he was used to death, but not like that. I guess he would be 31 now.
The mother of a boy I knew died. It was strange to hear then, when you’re little, when your mother’s your everything. We thought of him and his sister going home, and who would make their lunches now? I went to one of his birthday parties when we were smaller than that, and my grandmother was in town at the time, so she always asked after him, for years after that.</p>
<p>^ Hmm… elementary school. There was a boy who died when he was in 5th grade (I was in 4th). Another best friend’s brother’s best friend story. He died of double pneumonia. There were only 200 people in a K-8 school, so we were all pretty close by necessity. </p>
<p>I think since we were so young and religious, it didn’t hit any of us as hard as it would’ve if we were a bit older and in a public school.</p>
<p>Looking back on it, it is ridiculously sad because he was just so damn young :(</p>
<p>When I was in 7th grade a kid at my middle school in 8th grade died in a helicopter crash, he was electrocuted and died instantly. They had an open casket, apparently half his body was burnt black. Then one person has committed suicide at my hs for the past 3 years.</p>