Teen dies from crash injuries
Published: October 15, 2009
FORT DEFIANCE – A 16-year-old Fort Defiance High School junior died Wednesday morning, two days after she crashed her mother’s car into a tree.
Word of Angela Kania’s death left her classmates in a whirl of sadness with homecoming weekend approaching, Principal Larry Landes said.
“It really does hit home about how short life can be,” Landes said. “The kids are torn and are having to deal with something so unnatural for young people. There’s no magic formula for how to deal with it.”
An academically gifted student, Kania took advanced classes, Landes said. And she smiled a lot.
Administrators said they planned to hold a moment of silence for Kania at the end of the school day.
Kania died at 12:51 a.m. She crossed her mother’s 1999 Toyota Solara over the center line and smashed the vehicle into a tree Monday morning in the 1000 block of Dam Town Road, Virginia State Police trooper K.L. Hyden said.
It was the second time in as many years that a Fort Defiance High teen was killed in a car crash on Dam Town, a winding rural road.
Kania was flown to the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville after rescue teams pulled her from the vehicle using the Jaws of Life.
Kania suffered trauma to the head and chest, Hyden said.
Kania’s mother, Catherine VanLear, of Verona, reported the car missing on the same day as the crash, police said. The girl, a reported runaway, was driving eastbound, away from her home and school.
First responders to the scene reported Kania was not wearing a seat belt, Hyden said.
VanLear declined to comment.
In 2008, four area teens, including Fort Defiance student Amy Caracofe, 17 of New Hope, were killed in car crashes. Caracofe in January lost control of her car in the 400 block of Dam Town.
That same month, Evanne Coffman, 16, of Fishersville, overturned her Jeep.
On March 4, Cody Hassett, 17, of Staunton, was killed in a three-car crash.
Matthew Shobe, 19, of Bridgewater, died Dec. 20 after his friend, Brennan J. Daly, 17, of Mount Solon, wrecked on Route 646 in Augusta County.
Advertisement
Reader Reactions
I have made a copy of one of the 2 friends of mine pictured on the front page of the News-Va. Yes it was the News-Va. The copy isn’t of good quality, but that was the best I could get. Tried to deliver it today but was 14 minutes late so I will deliver it tomorrow.
I have the info. on one of the 2 friends I mentioned. It was on the front page of the News-Va. I tried to deliver the copy of it today but was 14 minutes too late. I’ll try again tomorrow. It’s a horrible copy.
A final comment before I retire from commenting altogether:
I’ll confess I’m not prepared to defend every newspaper in the country. I am prepared to defend the practices of this newspaper, which are based on what I’ve been taught throughout my career. We do not as a matter of practice publish photographs of dead bodies lying on the road after car crashes. In fact, I’ve neither been presented such photos taken by staff here nor have I seen them taken by staff at any other newspaper where I’ve worked. It is understood here as it has been understood elsewhere that I’ve worked that such photos would be rejected.
Contrary to whatever impressions some people might have about newspapers and journalists, we at The News Virginian take very seriously the importance of handling appropriately copy and photographs regarding stories of this nature, paying particular attention to precisely the concerns you’ve raised. That’s been my experience everywhere I’ve been. It’s part of how journalism has been taught to me.
Few of us can claim never to have failed in anything that we do. That applies to the human beings who work at newspapers, too. But I can say with confidence that it is the practice of this newspaper to consider carefully the propriety of what we publish, that it’s not a thing we take lightly. That’s something in which I personally believe and that I’ve been instructed by many mentors in this profession along the way.
Your responses are reminders of the deep importance of that approach.
Mr. Wolverton,
Are you serious???? DID YOU FALL AND BUMP YOUR HEAD?????
I’ve changed my mind. I WILL research which papers published these pictures and will bring the info.to you. You are extremely naive to even consider that no paper in the country would print such tragedies. Evidently, your statement,“Everywhere I’ve been and at every other newspaper where I know editors and reporters, publishing photographs of this sort is explicitly prohibited.“ MEANS SOMEONE IS NOT DOING THEIR JOB!
To R. Lee Wolverton,
I didn’t specify what paper I saw my friends pictures in. But I will now say that the pictures were in one of our 2 local papers. The 2 friends were NOT pictured at the same time but on different occasions. Maybe if one of the 2 had been your family member or friend, it would have been more of an unforgettable impact on you as it was for me and I’m sure their family members. I can contact you with their names but refuse to put their names in writing here out of respect for them and their families and friends. I would also be willing to research which papers and dates they were published as this is the absolute truth of a most uncaring, thoughtless act of the media.
I agree with mytwoangels also, i was just blow away by how this paper presented itself when a family going through such a horrible time. They are just kicking the family when it’s already down. All this paper is good for is when you run out of toilet paper in the bathroom and you need to wipe you butt, that’s all ill be doing with it. Thanks NewsVirginian for being grade A @$$wipe.
This newspaper under my watch never has and never would print photographs of “2 friends on the front page laying dead in the road.“
Nor am I aware of that having ever occurred at The News Virginian. In fact, there’s no newspaper in the country of which I am aware that would publish photographs like the ones you describe. Bear in mind, I’ve worked in this business for 23 years for newspapers large and small from as far north as Pittsburgh to as far south as Fort Myers, Fla. Everywhere I’ve been and at every other newspaper where I know editors and reporters, publishing photographs of this sort is explicitly prohibited.
Further, regarding this story. we say Angela Kania was an academically gifted student who took advanced classes and smiled a lot, and the story points out the sense of sadness classmates feel over her loss.
Your reference to us casting “Anglea in a negative light” can only be to her being reported as a runaway, a fact cited low in the story. That takes nothing away from the attributes cited either in the story or in the comments below. As a parent, this does nothing to alter my view of Angela Kania. I remain deeply saddened for her family and friends and for her.
Our duty is to report the facts in context to the best of our ability. This story meets that standard.
What a sad day for the family. It must be a terrible burden to loose a life at such a young age. Our thoughts and well wishes go out to the family
May god be with the family and friends and for the entire FDHS students as well. i didnt know this little lady im sure she is a lovely angel in heaven and im sure she would want you all to have a nice homecoming . may god be with the parents .
So sorry to hear of these tragic accidents. My heart goes out to the family and friends of all of these teens. You’re in my thoughts and prayers.
mytwoangels
I agree with you 100%. I’ve seen pictures of 2 friends on the front page laying dead in the road. One I didn’t know about until stopping to pick up a morning paper and there was my friend laying in the road with his mother looking over him! That was quite a shock! I can’t imagine what his family members went through seeing that before they knew he had died.I just believe that is extremely insenitive and going a bit too far.
Advertisement