‘It will forever live with me.’ Paso Robles bystanders tried to save teen killed in crash

The teenager sustained fatal injuries when his car collided with the other two on Spring Street at the 34th Street intersection. BY LAURA DICKINSON

Read more at: https://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/article2...

Camille Katz was driving down Spring Street in Paso Robles on Thursday evening when she saw people pulling a teenager out of a crashed car. “I had my windows down, and I could hear everybody saying, ‘Does anyone know CPR? Does anyone know CPR?’” Katz said. “And I had my CPR training, like not too long ago ... so I figured I might as well help. And I got out of the car, and I ran over.” Katz was among the bystanders who tried to save a 17-year-old boy killed in a high-speed collision near Spring and 34th streets just north of downtown Paso Robles.

He was speeding down Spring Street when two other vehicles on opposite sides of the intersection turned onto the northbound and southbound sides of the road. The teenager sustained fatal injuries when his car collided with the other two. The drivers and passengers in the other vehicles involved in the crash were not injured. Police have not identified the teenager because he was a minor.

The teen was enrolled as a student at a school in the Paso Robles Joint Unified School District, said Tom Harrington, director of student services. “We notified our counselors of the situation and also asked our teachers to keep on the lookout for students that might be struggling,” Harrington said. “Our counselors were prepared to provide emotional support.”

Shards of glass an car parts remain at Spring and 34th streets in Paso Robles, where a 17-year-old died when he crashed his car speeding through the intersection on Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022. Laura Dickinson LDICKINSON@THETRIBUNENEWS.COM

BYSTANDERS SHARE EFFORTS TO SAVE TEENAGER AFTER CRASH Melanie McClain, who lives in an apartment complex near the intersection, was among the group of people who helped pull the teenager from his car. She said his neck looked seriously injured, and people who came out to help him were initially going to leave him in the vehicle to avoid hurting him further.

“Once the car caught on fire, we knew we needed to get him up and out of there,” McClain said. A group of four men McClain described as “Good Samaritans” helped remove the teenager from the car, and someone ran into a nearby apartment to get a pillow for his neck. “That’s when we were like, ‘Hey, stay with us, stay with us, stay with us! Help is coming, help is coming,’” McClain said. Bystanders called 911, and Katz began monitoring the teenager’s vital signs when she arrived on the scene.

A memorial marks the spot at Spring and 34th streets in Paso Robles where a 17-year-old died in a high-speed crash on Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022. Laura Dickinson LDICKINSON@THETRIBUNENEWS.COM

He was breathing and his heart was beating when Katz initially got there. But she seemed to feel the teenager’s heart stop right as firefighters pulled up. On Friday, residents set up a small memorial for the teenager along a fence near the crash site. A wooden cross hung on the fence with the words “tú familia te ama” — “your family loves you” in Spanish — carved into the surface. Rosaries hung from the cross, and someone had secured a photo of a young boy near the top. Residents had also placed flowers and prayer candles nearby. Katz said she wants to find the teen’s family and tell them there were people with their loved one when he died.

“He took his last few breaths in my hand, and it will forever live with me,” she said. “His face will forever live with me. It’s impressionable.” This story was originally published January 15, 2022 8:50 AM.