Her death was sad, but the accident was so stupid
There was just no excuse for this accident to happen. If this girl had slowed down for this turn, she would have been able to negotiate this s-curve so easily. I myself have been over that section of road many times in the past and not have had a problem. It aws the combination of just going too fast and not paying attention to the road that caused such a needless death in someone who otherwise was a very talented young person. Here is the story of what happened.Teen dies in 1-car crash
Tonya Rose Dams, 2005 West Ottawa graduate, died Saturday, her brother was injuredBy ANDREA GOODELL Staff writer
Dams
A 19-year-old Park Township woman is dead and her brother injured after she lost control of her car along Lakeshore Drive south of Quincy Street Saturday afternoon.
Tonya Rose Dams, 2005 West Ottawa graduate, died Saturday, her brother was injuredBy ANDREA GOODELL Staff writer
Dams
A 19-year-old Park Township woman is dead and her brother injured after she lost control of her car along Lakeshore Drive south of Quincy Street Saturday afternoon.
Tonya Rose Dams was driving south on Lakeshore Drive in Park Township around noon Saturday when her 1994 Saturn four-door dropped off the shoulder, said Ottawa County Sheriff's Office Lt. Steve Kempker. She attempted to bring the car back on the road, but lost control, he said.
Dams was pronounced dead on the scene, officials said. Her brother, Brandon Lee Dams, 18, was transported to Holland Hospital by AMR Ambulance with head and other injuries. He was out of the emergency room and in stable condition Saturday night.
Their mother, Kathy Dams, was at her son's bedside. She was numb and focused on her son's care, but was also quick to talk about her daughter.
"She was an incredible girl, incredible," Kathy Dams said. "Anyone who knew her or came in contact with her loved her."
She described her daughter's personality as bubbly and said Tonya Dams hugged everyone she knew.
"She taught me a lot," Kathy Dams said, pausing behind tears. "She taught me how to be a better person and she wasn't finished yet."
Tonya Dams graduated from West Ottawa High School in 2005. She was a cheerleader and was still in contact with friends from the squad, her mother said.
She was also an artist, a member of the Holland Friends of Art and in her second year at Kendall College of Art and Design in Grand Rapids.
Her work has been shown at Art in the Park, during Tulip Time, at the Ottawa County Fair, Freedom Village and on the campus of Calvin College.
Her great-grandmother, Elinor Burns, was an inspiration to Tonya Dams. Some of Burns' work hangs at Holland Hospital, where Brandon Dams was being treated. Brandon Dams graduated from West Ottawa High School this year.
"There's a purpose for God to take her now and there's a purpose for God to leave Brandon on this earth," Kathy Dams said. "We just don't know what it is."
She said her daughter's mantra was : "Whatever I do in art is what God has put through me."
"If there were more people like her there wouldn't be the wars, the hatred. She just left too early. The world has lost a precious soul."
Brandon and Tonya Dams, their mother said, were the best of friends.
"They adore each other," she said.
The two were on their way to play a Frisbee-style game when the accident occurred, she said.
When Tonya Dams attempted to bring her vehicle back on the road, police reports said, the car slid onto its side. The car's roof hit a cluster of trees and was ripped from the vehicle. It was thrown 15 to 20 feet away.
The brother and sister were pinned in the car. Park Township firefighters extracted them.
An AeroMed helicopter was called, but was canceled after Brandon Dams was stable enough to be transported by ambulance.
Both were wearing their seat belts, Kempker said.
The crash remains under investigation.
As I said, I have been on that stretch of road many times without incident. This just shows what happens when some one just does not pay attention to what they are doing. This whole accident was so easy to avoid. How irresponsible the young could be.
posted by speeddemon0117 @ 11:37 PM
7 Comments:
And you prove how arrogant and disrespectful the "old" are in this country.
Have some respect for the dead for crying out loud. Any number of things could have happened that caused this crash, why don't you wait to make conclusions until the professionals have finished their investigation.
No disrespect was meant. I was only showing how simple it would have been to avoid this collision if only she had been paying attention.
Maybe you do mean no disrespect. But your words ring with insensitivity, and that is interpretted as disrespect by those of us who knew and still love Tonya.
You say that we are arrogant and disrespectful, but that is not alway the case. Sometimes it can also be said that we are more experienced in some ways. That stretch of road is not dangerous. This collision did not have to happen.
More experienced? I doubt that. Why don't you turn off that moniter of yours, get up off your ass and get a life. I hope for your sake that you can find something more interesting to do with your time than posting nonsensical comments on some obsure website. I also hope that you don't spend any more than 20 minutes a day doing this, because that would be pathetic. What a waste of precious life!
As for Tonya, she's dead, she's not coming back. Is it too much to ask for a little respect for the dead? I just don't understand how somebody can get off on criticizing the accident in which a young girl lost her life! I realize its not a "dangerous stretch of road" but that is why they call them accidents. They happen. And sometimes people die as a result. Now you're here talking about, "how simply it could have been avoided" like you're some kind of superior creature. Anyone could die from anything at any moment. God kills indiscriminantly, as the saying goes. So why don't you show some respect and shut your mouth.
God does not kill indiscriminately, people do. How about you show me a little respect and respect my opinion about how things happened. How about instead of complaining about what I write, which is my own opinion (Everyone is entitled to their own) and pooring your energy into doing something about the joke we have in this country called "Driver's Education". Take a real driver's education course and you will learn how many of these so called "accidents" can be avoided.
I am appalled by this, and I need to say something.
My cousin Tonya was not being 'irresponsible,' by any means, and you are so very out of line by saying so.
Tonya hit a patch of gravel and lost control of her car - which is something that can happen, even if you are the most 'capable,' 'responsible' driver alive. As much as we would like to think, we are not as 'in control' of these vehicles as we would like to be. They are machines, and they are large machines. Sometimes, when something goes wrong, there is not a whole lot one can do.
This was a complete freak accident - and that is all. It's not as if Tonya were drunk, or driving recklessly. She was not speeding, and she was doing nothing wrong.
Her brother was in the car with her and knows exactly what happened. Thankfully, his life was not taken as well.
This was an unfortunate accident, that claimed the life of one of the best souls to ever grace this Earth. Your blog is very disrespectful, and on behalf of my family I am posting my disappointment.
You should be ashamed of yourself, sir.
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