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Fatal Crash All A Blur To 2 Injured Plant Students

News Channel 8 photo by INDIRA LEVINE

Accident survivors - and friends of Allyson Faulk - Kristen Hurst, left, and Karlyn McKell speak to reporters Monday.

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By Natalie Shepherd, Samara Sodos and Elaine Silvestrini

News Channel 8 and The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 17, 2008

Updated: 11/17/2008 07:56 pm

TAMPA - They don't remember much about the wreck, but they'll never forget Allyson Faulk.

Kristen Hurst and Karlyn McKell, both 17-year-olds at Plant High School, were in the back seat of a Ford Expedition driven by Faulk when Faulk lost control of the SUV south of Gainesville on Friday evening.

The Expedition hit several trees and caught on fire. Faulk died at the scene; another friend, Lizzy Mischo, suffered bruises, stitches and a chipped bone in her shoulder.

Speaking today from Hurst's home in South Tampa, the girls said they were sleeping part of the trip and say they remember little of what happened.

"I was unconscious and I remember the men coming and picking me up, and then I woke up and I was in the hospital,'' said Hurst, who has a dislocated hip and black eyes.

"I remember going off the road and I remember I was in the ambulance yelling about an IV," McKell said.

Both girls woke up in the emergency room. They said they weren't told about Faulk's death right away.

Hurst said the group was in the Expedition because it seemed like the safest car.

"She drove it all the time,'' Hurst said. "We figured it was the safest car, it was the biggest car. She was the safest driver."

The girls had been on their way to Tallahassee to watch Saturday night's football game between Florida State University and Boston College. It was going to be a fun trip among a group of girls who'd planned to be best friends forever.

"We made promises that we'd be the maid of honors in each other's weddings,'' said Hurst, who said Faulk wanted to go into accounting or business. "We both wanted to come back from college and live in Hyde Park."

In addition to their physical recovery, the girls are still dealing with the loss of their friend.

"I'm going to try take it one day at a time," Hurst said. "We have a lot of friends and support so we'll get through it, and Alli's watching over us.''

Hurst and McKell aren't the only ones mourning the loss of Faulk. More than 100 students at Plant High School met with grief counselors today.

"It has been a tough day," said Jim Landers, Plant High School psychologist. "Our kids are hurting. They're coping the best way possible."

Students have been talking about Faulk's death in large groups, small groups and in the classroom.

"Kids don't have the same experience with death as adults, so we try to normalize it as much as possible," Landers said.

Counselors, he said, are explaining to students that people have different emotions and feelings about death and different ways of coping. One person may laugh, and another may cry. Crisis counselors are teaching them general coping skills such as stress reduction and breathing exercises.

"They're kind of in disbelief," Landers said. "They're wondering, 'How do I cope? How do I get through it?' And they're also dealing with the fact that accidents like that can happen to anyone at any time."

Landers is urging parents to talk to their children when they get home, hug them and tell them they are loved.

The Zeta service club and yearbook staff are planning ways to memorialize Faulk.

Landers said crisis counseling will be available to students as they need it.

Faulk's funeral will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Christ the King Catholic Church, 821 S. Dale Mabry Highway. In lieu of flowers, the Faulk family requests donations to the Plant High School Zeta Service Club or the Juvenile Diabetes Research Center, 5959 Central Ave., No. 202, St. Petersburg FL 33710.

Editor's note: A previous online edition listed an incorrect time for Allyson Faulk's funeral.

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