This story was originally produced by The Keene Sentinel. NHPR is republishing it in partnership with the Granite State News Collaborative.
A Keene State College freshman who was involved in a crash with a logging truck in Stoddard early Thursday morning has died of her injuries while another has been released from the hospital, school officials said.
Kelsey P. Mayer, 18, was driving a 2016 Chevrolet Cruze west on Route 9 near the road's split with Route 123 when it struck a tractor-trailer that was preparing to back into a logging site. Mayer and her passenger, Allison M. Yanski, 18, had to be extricated from the car, police said. Mayer was taken by ambulance to Concord Hospital while Yanski was taken to Cheshire Medical Center in Keene.
On Saturday, Mayer’s family announced her passing on an online fundraiser.
“The world is a lot dimmer as we have lost a huge light in our lives,” Jen Albino, Mayer’s aunt, wrote.
Both Mayer and Yanski graduated from Concord High School and played together on the Keene State women’s soccer team.
“This is an unimaginable, hard-to-process loss for Kelsey's family and friends and for the Keene State community,” said Keene State President Melinda Treadwell in a letter Sunday. “Our thoughts, of course, are with Kelsey’s family, with Allison and her family, and with those Keene State individuals who have been most impacted by this tragedy.”
Yanski has since been released from Cheshire Medical Center, according to Keene State spokesman Paul Miller.