Blue Ridge Remembers Softball Player Brooke Deckard
BLUE RIDGE, TX (CBSDFW.COM) - A small town in East Collin County wraps its arms around the family of Brooke Deckard, one of the four softball players killed in a horrific bus crash Friday night.
Deckard was a sophomore on the Lady Lions team at North Central Texas College.
As the team bus headed home from a game in Oklahoma City Friday night, a semi-truck crossed the median and plowed into the bus on the driver's side.
Nearly everyone, players and coaches, on the bus suffered some sort of injury.
Four student-athletes, Deckard, 20, Katelynn Woodlee, 18, Meagan Richardson, 19, and Jaiden Pelton, 20, all died of injuries.
Two other teammates, Bailey Buchanan and Rachel Hitt, remain hospitalized as of Sunday night.
"Brooke was just the sweetest girl you'll ever meet in your entire life. She didn't deserve what happened to her," said Brandi Elmore, one of Deckard's friends and softball teammates from Blue Ridge High School.
A top player, Deckard graduated from Blue Ridge High School in 2013, and dreamed of playing in college.
"I woke up this morning and had to check and make sure this was real and it wasn't a dream," said another friend, Taylor Blakeslee.
Deckard's family is well known and loved in Blue Ridge, a town of 820 people thirty minutes east of McKinney.
Black and blue ribbons are tied to nearly all the light posts and mailboxes in town.
The Texas and American flags at the town center were lowered in her memory.
Sunday night at First Baptist Church of Blue Ridge, 650 people packed the sanctuary for a prayer vigil.
Among the crowd, friends and coaches, Deckard's family, and some of her softball teammates from high school and college.
"She was probably the best softball player I know. Everyone looked up to her," said Blakeslee.
Pastor Shawn Bailey says the church is reaching out to help the Deckards at this time.
Her funeral will likely be held at the church later this week.
Brooke Deckard used to help lead the music program at the church's vacation bible study, Bailey said.
The pastor acknowledged, three other North Texas hometowns are feeling the same loss that Blue Ridge is tonight.
"Life is precious. We're never guaranteed tomorrow. So we try to prepare people as early as they can to lead a life that is glorifying to God," said Bailey.
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