Multiple members of the Charlevoix High School boys varsity golf team and their coach remain in the hospital following a deadly car accident in northern Michigan on their way home from a weekend tournament.
The crash occurred Saturday night in Joyfield Township, when an SUV crossed the center line on M-115 and struck the van that was carrying the boys golf team. Six students and their coach were in the van, and all of them were transported to area hospitals with various injuries, and some required surgery.
The boys and their coach, Doug Drenth, all survived. The driver of the SUV died.
Mike Ridder, superintendent of the Charlevoix Public School District, wrote a letter to school families over the weekend, according to the Petoskey News-Review.
“Please keep our students, coach and their families in your thoughts and prayers,” Ritter wrote in the letter.
Ritter, contacted by The Detroit News, declined further comment Tuesday, “out of respect for the privacy of our students, coach, and their families.”
The driver of the SUV, a 32-year-old man from Cedar whose name hasn’t yet been released by Michigan State Police, was pronounced dead the scene in Benzie County. Michigan State Police said the driver of the SUV was suspected of stealing that vehicle, and also was the subject of a felonious assault complaint. When police spotted the SUV, a stop was attempted, but he kept driving for about 1½ miles, before colliding with the van.
One of the students seriously injured was junior Joe Gaffney, who remains in the hospital after suffering significant internal injuries, including bad damage to his pelvis, which looks like a “jigsaw puzzle,” according to his father.
Joe Gaffney also plays basketball, his true passion.
“Basketball, that’s his sport,” his father, Aaron Gaffney, said over the phone Tuesday. “It’s been his dream to play college basketball since he was 5 years old. He’s been an elite-level travel player since the sixth grade.
“He’s got friends and teammates and opponents from all the over state (reaching out). That’s really encouraging.
“The community support has been outstanding.”
The boys golf team was on its way back from a two-day tournament at Arcadia Bluffs, on Lake Michigan. They were planning to split up the drive home over two days, and spend Saturday night at Crystal Mountain, according to Aaron Gaffney, before returning to Charlevoix on Sunday.
They were about 10 minutes away from Crystal Mountain when the crash occurred.
“That’s the worst phone call you could ever get as a parent,” said Gaffney, an educator in northern Michigan who has three kids with wife Karrie.
“Karrie and I are just certainly thankful that everyone (in the van) is alive.”
tpaul@detroitnews.com
@tonypaul1984
