Nick Miner was a beloved son and also classmate who passed from this life into eternity because he gave the ultimate gift while helping out someone in need.
Sunday morning brought a crushing report to Miner’s friends and loved ones about his untimely death.
Miner was in his senior year at East River High School in Orlando and was the quarterback on the school football team, according to WOFL-TV.
I was 16 years old when a carload of friends were involved in a devastating accident. Four of them died and one survived. My heart goes out to family, friends, teachers, coaches and teammates of East River quarterback Nick Miner. https://t.co/qG7S1hetWX pic.twitter.com/Vbl6c7ZfIR
— J.C. Carnahan (@JCCarnz) October 24, 2022
He was driving a pickup truck and had stopped to help another driver who was stranded on the side of the road, according to the New York Post.
While assisting the stranded driver, a car smashed into Miner’s truck and killed him.
The Florida Highway Patrol said that Miner’s stopped truck was hit by a white Honda Insight.
Miner was attempting to pull the stranded truck on the side of the road back onto the street at the time the impact took place.
Miner’s truck then overturned after impact and he was thrown from the truck, which killed him.
A 17-year-old girl and a 20-year-old woman were standing outside their stranded truck at the time of the crash and sustained some injuries.
The pair were taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center for injuries, though their injuries weren’t life-threatening, WOFL-TV reported.
Miner’s loved ones, friends and teammates set up a memorial at the crash site expressing their grief.
Some of the thoughts expressed said, “I love you” and “I miss you.”
“It hurts. He was a brother of the family. I wish he was still here. Funny, always the class clown, but a leader on the field. Never gave up, always gave his all,” said Parker Stoner, one of Miner’s football teammates.
School Principal Becky Watson took to the school’s Facebook page, announcing the accident, and the school’s efforts to help students process the loss.
Watson also said in the post, “My thoughts and prayers are with this student’s family and friends as they go through this extremely difficult time.”
She went on to let the student body know that there would be grief counselors available to help students and staff members who needed to talk with someone about the loss.
She acknowledged that it’s not unusual for grief to encompass a wide range of emotions and encouraged parents to openly discuss those emotions with their sons and daughters.
