A teenage drag racer and her best friend were killed in a horrific high-speed crash after losing control of their vehicle and being thrown out of it as it rolled over multiple times on a Utah highway.
Ava Olivarez, 17, and Xander Hover, 15, died after being flung from their Chevy Silverado by the force of the crash in Juab County, southwest of Salt Lake City, shortly after 6 p.m. on Thursday, ABC 4 reported.
A third teenager, Corey Wayman, 15, was riding as a passenger and was also thrown from the truck, but miraculously survived despite suffering a broken collarbone and a brain bleed.
None of the three teenagers — all from the Riverton area of Utah — were wearing seatbelts at the time of the crash, Ava’s father, Aaron Olivarez, told ABC4 4.
“I don’t know how I’m going to move on,” Mr. Olivarez said, noting that he had always emphasized the importance of wearing seatbelts to his daughter.
“We got to the turn where it happened, and I remember Ava turned too wide and it was all silent,” Wayman told ABC 4.
“Next thing you know, I was on the floor looking at the roof, and I blacked out. Then I woke up with paramedics around me,” he added.
Olivarez was behind the wheel when she lost control of the pickup truck during the race on Weiss Highway and died later in a nearby hospital.
Hover, whose father called him “extraordinary,” died at the scene.
Olivarez was an experienced drag racer who had started racing when she was 8, according to a GoFundMe set up by her loved ones.
“Her presence brought joy to everyone around her, and her memory will forever be cherished by her family, friends, and fellow racers,” the GoFundMe states.
“She was truly wise beyond her years and could not only keep up on the track but in any conversation,” the tribute said.
“It is unfathomable. It is the worst thing we can go through,” said Ava’s father.
“The kids had made a quick trip to go see some friends, and we just never would have guessed that any of this could have happened,” he added.
Hover’s father said his one source of comfort was that the friends were together at the time of the accident, as he paid tribute to his son.
“He was an extraordinary kid. We’re learning now how impactful he was to everybody. He knew so many people and met so many people and was just loved by everybody,” Jessie Hover said.
“All three kids were. They were a part of everybody. That brings me comfort, that they were all together,” he added.
Wayman has said he plans to keep his friends’ memories alive and cannot believe that he survived the crash.
“It’s a miracle that I’m standing here today, when the other two aren’t. It doesn’t seem possible,” he said.
The cause of last week’s crash remains under investigation by the Juab County Sheriff’s Office.
“The primary contributing factors are related to high speed travel and disuse of occupant restraints,” a sheriff’s office spokesperson told KSL.