THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 11, 1994 TAG: 9409090306
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ROBIN LINDNER, HIGH SCHOOL CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 95 lines
The 1,200 people overflowed from the sanctuary and into the parish halls of the First Baptist Church on Main Street in Suffolk. At the altar, a wreath of flowers framed a gold football helmet, scarred and scratched.
The Sept. 1 memorial service for Kevin Clark Blanchard, 17, showed that the Nansemond-Suffolk Academy junior and athlete was a friend to many.
Lots of us saw Kevin for the last time at an Aug. 26 football scrimmage, the day before the accident. By the first day of school, most N-SA students knew about the wreck, but some of us didn't understand the severity until our headmaster, William Owen, called us into an assembly.
We learned that Kevin was on his way to the store when the accident occurred. He was driving along U.S. Route 460 with his cruise control set at 58 mph when he suddenly came upon a Dodge pickup. Not having enough time to stop, he collided with the truck.
Usually, this type of accident would not be fatal, but Kevin wasn't wearing his seat belt. This was especially hard for us to accept because Kevin was always strapped in and made sure all of his passengers were, too.
With one of our classmates in the hospital, the first day of school was an eerie one. Class policies and plans were handed out, but clearly the teachers didn't have very much interest in what they were reading. The students had even less.
The hallways were hushed; even the most talkative girls and the most obnoxious guys were quiet.
The situation hit the student body hard and left us unsure of the future. Death came too suddenly for any one of us to catch our breath. At 6:15 p.m., Monday, Aug. 29, Kevin died of massive brain damage. There was nothing that anyone could do to save him. We felt so helpless. No one could understand why this would happen to such a great guy.
``Kevin was such an excellent role model for everyone,'' said Amber Boyles, 16, a junior and a friend of Kevin's since elementary school. ``He was funny, charming and a great athlete, but there was a serious, genuine side to Kevin that not too many people really got to see.''
She remembers well the summer day when he stopped by her Suffolk home and they ended up talking for four hours.
Susan Johnson, the captain of the field hockey team, put it best when she said, ``Every student who knew him suffered a loss when he died, even if they were not particularly close to him. Kevin was just so friendly that you had to like him, and if he were alive today, I would still say the same thing because it's the truth.''
At school, Kevin walked down the hall smiling and talking to everyone. He was a very open person who many people were drawn to.
``He was always really supportive of me, and he was there whenever I needed advice,'' said Lindsay Forehand, 15, the sophomore from Chesapeake who was Kevin's girlfriend. ``Whenever I was upset, Kevin made me feel better because he was extremely funny.''
Students showed their sorrow in many ways during that first week. The most prominent display was the red hearts with the initials ``KB'' placed at the school's entrances.
Kevin's teammates used medical tape to display No. 40 on the backs of their cars or trucks. For their Tuesday game, the girls' basketball team wore black armbands with No. 40 on them. And field hockey player Lisa Beale, 16, a junior, sewed 42 No. 40s on her teammates' skirts for their games.
On Wednesday the field hockey team handed out 450 white carnations for students to wear in honor of Kevin.
Brian Abernathy of Smithfield accepted one of the flowers.
``Kevin was a great friend,'' said Bryan, 16, a junior who was one of Kevin's teammates and close friends. ``I felt like I could trust him. There aren't too many people that I could talk to and have important conversations with that wouldn't take advantage of what I said and tell other people.''
Students also supported each other emotionally. We seemed to stop worrying about the trivialities, like homework, finishing our summer reading, practicing after school or worrying about who was hanging out with whom.
Kevin's death gave us a reality check. It made every single student realize how precious life is.
Reebok's slogan, ``Life is short. Play hard,'' seems all too true. We should all try to model ourselves after Kevin and learn from his death, because nice guys like Kevin don't always finish last. He will be first in our hearts forever. MEMO: THE AUTHOR
On the Saturday before school started, tragedy struck at
Nansemond-Suffolk Academy. Kevin Blanchard, 17, a junior and tight end
for the Saints football team, was seriously injured in a car accident.
On Monday, Aug. 29, the first day of school, Kevin died. This story was
written by Robin Lindner, one of Kevin's classmates and a high school
correspondent at The Virginian-Pilot.
ILLUSTRATION: ``He was there whenever I needed advice,'' said Lindsay
Forehand, 15, left, about her boyfriend, the late Kevin Blanchard,
right.
Robin Lindner
by CNB