COWETA COUNTY, Ga. — Six Northgate High School students were hospitalized Thursday after their car crashed into a utility pole on Vaughn Road in Coweta County—the same site where a deadly wreck occurred 10 years ago.
Channel 2’s Michael Doudna was live in Coweta County for Channel 2 Action News at 6:00 after speaking with a mother who lost her son 10 years ago at this exact spot.
It’s a stretch of road Ginger Whitehawk can’t forget.
“I know those trees, and I immediately knew it was the spot,” Ginger Whitehawk said.
Whitehawk says she’s walked that stretch of road again and again. It’s where she lost her son, Eli.
“My son was the most charismatic, beautiful, beautiful boy,” Whitehawk said. “He was the one who showed me what love was and how to love unconditionally.”
However, in 2016, Eli was in a car with three friends when the driver lost control at a curve on Vaughn Road.
“They hit a large tree, which then spun them in circles, and they went airborne,” Whitehawk said.
Eli died in the 2016 crash, leaving a family with a hole in its heart.
“My family’s not the same. Our get-togethers are smaller. There’s always that feeling that something’s missing,” Whitehawk said.
After the 2016 crash, authorities lowered the speed limit and installed new signs. Neighbors say the road is still a hotspot for speeding.
“It takes accountability from peers, from parents, from teachers,” Whitehawk said.
New tire marks now mar the ground next to old crosses.
On Thursday, a car carrying six Northgate High School teens lost control while speeding around the same curve and hit the same utility pole.
“To see that exact same scenario play out now, involving not the four children from 10 years ago, but six new children, six new families, is a hard pill to swallow,” Whitehawk said.
Whitehawk hopes the crash will lead to safer drivers on Vaughn Road, while praying the six teens all recover from their injuries.
“I pray every day for the parent who gets this news that they weren’t expecting. And today and yesterday and going forward, I’m going to be praying for all six of those families. That they don’t have to feel the pain that my family feels,” Whitehawk said.
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