The lone survivor of a hit and run in Grande Prairie that claimed four lives is looking back on the crash one year later.
On October 22, 2011 Zach Judd was with his friends Walter Borden-Wilkens, Matt Deller, Tanner Hildebrand and Vincent Stover at a friend’s party.
They were driving home when a pick-up truck hit the vehicle they were in killing four of the friends.
Judd was rushed to hospital where he stayed for several weeks recovering.
On the one year anniversary of the fatal collision, Judd said he misses his football teammates deeply.
“It felt like the boys should still be with us,” he said speaking about a candlelight vigil held Saturday. “If anything, I should be with them. I feel like it’s not really fair that I’m here and they aren’t.”
Hundreds gathered for the vigil where orange and black balloons were released in remembrance of the teenagers who played for their school football team.
Judd said he is doing well physically but can’t play the sport he loves yet. Instead, he is helping coach his team this year.
“If I can’t play football I can at least be around it with my friends. So that’s the good part I guess,” the now 16-year old said.
He’s having trouble in school and blames his memory for low grades. “I actually believe that if my memory wasn’t as bad as it is now because of the accident, that I would be passing the classes that I’m not passing,” he told CTV.
The families of the boys who didn’t survive the crash also attended Saturday’s vigil.
“What we were interested in doing is a year after the crash, honour the boys, have a moment of silence, remember then and love them,” said Darren Davidson, the stepfather of Walter Borden-Wilkens.
Davidson said his family is moving on the best they can without Walter though they continue to miss him every day.
Twenty-one year old Brendan Holubowich has been charged in the case and will appear in a Grande Prairie courtroom November 5.
He faces 16 charges including impaired driving causing death and failure to remain at the scene of a crash.
