FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – During a Monday prayer service, students at St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale clung to hope and prayed for their classmates who survived a fiery wreck in Pompano Beach on Friday ― and also prayed for the two teens who didn’t make it.
The crash happened just before 8 p.m. in the 200 block of West Copans Road.
Five teenagers were in the vehicle and two, Richard Grable III and Jayden Vico, did not survive.
“We’ve known Richie since like Pre-K and it just doesn’t feel real,” friend Maverick McCour said.
Grable was a former student at St. Thomas Aquinas and a current Fort Lauderdale High School student, while Vico was a student-athlete on the St. Thomas Aquinas wrestling team.
“I just feel so bad for the families,“ friend John Myhre said. ”They were amazing kids and this is a horrible thing that happened for everyone involved.”
Grable’s family members said he was declared brain dead on Sunday.
Vico was described by friend Andres Armjo as “a really nice guy.”
The three surviving teens, identified as Ryan Bradley, Tomas Brown and Aiden Finkel, remained hospitalized as of Monday.
Hearts were heavy at Monday’s somber prayer service.
“Members from everywhere from Miami and Fort Lauderdale have come here today to make sure they’re supporting the families of those kids involved in this terrible accident,” Juan Di’Prado, the communications director for the Archdiocese of Miami, said.
GoFundMe pages have been created to help those who were injured in the crash, and one has been created to help Vico’s family during their time of loss. The GoFundMe page for the Vico family can be found by clicking here.
GoFundMe pages for the surviving victims:
