The city of Grande Prairie is marking a sombre anniversary.
One year ago Monday, four teens were killed and one was seriously injured when their vehicle was hit by a pick up truck driven by an alleged drunk driver.
On October 22, 2011, Walter Borden-Wilkins, 15, Tanner Hildebrand, 15, Matthew Deller, 16, and Vince Stover, 16, were killed. The fifth boy, Zach Judd, 16, was airlifted to hospital and has spent the past year recovering from a brain injury.
Late Saturday night, a candlelight vigil was held at Legion Field in Grande Prairie. Hundreds of people dressed in black and orange- the official colours of the football team the boys played for- gathered to take part in the informal ceremony.
The vigil began with applause for Judd, the only boy in the car who survived the crash. Then there was a moment of silence for the four boys who didn’t survive.
The community is still grieving but say memorials do help.
“We felt it was important to keep a little bit of a connection with the community and the people that loved our boys. We didn’t want to make a real big deal of it so we didn’t, it was just more of a remembrance and a connection,” said Darren Davidson, Borden-Wilkins’ stepfather.
Judd attended the vigil. He is back at school however, he isn’t able to play football, the game he loves. He says he still carries around the grief of being the only one to survive the crash.
“I just feel like it’s not really fair… It’s not really fair that I survived and they didn’t even get a chance,” said Judd.
“Zachary is doing remarkable, but at the same time it has been very difficult because it’s a tragedy and it’s affected all of us,” added his mother, Desiree Judd.
Family members say they aren’t sure if they’ll hold a memorial every year however, felt it was important for the community to come together to honour the boys on the one year anniversary of their deaths.
With files from Laurel Clark.
Watch the full interview with Zach Judd here:
Watch the full interview with Zach’s mother, Desiree Judd here:
Watch the full interview with Royal Dedora, a friend of Matthew Deller, here:
Watch the full interview with Kingsley McKim, a friend of Vince Stover, here:
Watch the full interview with Darren Davidson, Walter Borden-Wilkins’ stepfather, here: