WKRN, Nashville, Tennessee News, Weather and Sports |Hundreds attend vigil for Spring Hill crash victims

Hundreds attend vigil for Spring Hill crash victims

On Sunday night, more than 1,000 people turned out for a candlelight vigil at Heritage Elementary School in Thompson's Station to honor 10-year-old Cameron O'Reilly and 50-year-old Mark Ahlberg.

O'Reilly and Ahlberg were killed in a car accident Thursday afternoon when Ahlberg suffered a medical emergency and crashed into the SUV carrying O'Reilly, her sister Abigail and father Chuck, who both survived the accident.

"No one ever expects it to happen to them but it happened," Spring Hill Mayor Mike Dinwiddie said of the accident.

At Sunday's vigil, family members and friends spoke of O'Reilly and Ahlberg.

"Dear Sissy, I miss you beating me at Just Dance, and I miss you helping me with school. We fought a lot, but I didn't want you to go. Why did they need another angel?" read Tiffany Woynaroski, an O'Reilly family spokesperson.

Ahlberg's sister-in-law said, "He [Mark] had a true love for the Lord, his wife and children. Providing and protecting his family was his life."

The community's outpouring of support for the grieving families was clear on Sunday night by the number of people in attendance at the candlelight vigil.

Attendees said they just want to help the Ahlberg and O'Reilly families through the tragedy.

"Even though this the worst day of your life, and it's an incredibly overwhelming burden that you have to shoulder," Mayor Dinwiddie said to both families, "I think you can look around and see that it's not one that you have to shoulder alone."

Dave Allen, principal of Heritage Elementary School, where Cameron was a fifth grade student, added, "People in this community wanting to help, coming through, wanting to know what they can do, just dropping off checks, wanting to help the families."

A memorial for the Ahlberg family has been set up at Community South Bank in Spring Hill and a memorial for the O'Reilly family has been set up at First Tennessee Bank in Spring Hill.

Previous Story:

• Dec. 29, 2011: Man, child killed in Spring Hill crash