Pa. boy, 13, dies in ATV accident

November 22, 1998|By RICHARD F. BELISLE

SOUTH MOUNTAIN, Pa. - A 13-year-old Waynesboro Area Middle School student died Friday night when he was ejected from an all-terrain vehicle that went off the road and hit a log, Pennsylvania State Police said.

Eric Wagaman, of Fayetteville, Pa., was one of three youths on the Yamaha 4-wheeler when it went out of control on Coral Ridge Road about three-tenths of a mile west of Spruce Road, police said.

Another passenger, Brad Daywalt, 16, of Fayetteville, was being treated in Waynesboro Hospital for head trauma, a broken nose, broken tooth and other facial injuries, his father, Sandy Daywalt, said from his son's hospital room Saturday.

Hospital officials listed Brad's condition as satisfactory.

Rocky Dean Barnes, 16, also of Fayetteville, the driver of the ATV, was treated at Waynesboro Hospital and released. Barnes was the only one of the three wearing a helmet, police said.

The accident occurred around 9:30 p.m. and is still under investigation, police said.

Ronald Baker, Eric Wagaman's uncle, was on duty Friday night as a member of the South Mountain fire police squad. He heard the call on his monitor and was sent to direct traffic around the accident, he said.

Baker said he learned that his nephew was killed from an emergency medical technician working at the scene.

"I tell you, that was something," he said.

Baker said the ATV had no lights. "They were in a 4-wheeler on a back road. These things happen," he said.

The vehicle went out of control and struck a pile of logs, Baker said. His nephew was killed instantly, he said.

Baker said Wagaman, whose mother died about four years ago, leaves behind a 12-year-old brother, he said.

Baker said he and his wife, Lois, have started a fund drive to help Eric's father, William, with some of the bills the accident will generate.

"He doesn't have any insurance. He's on his own. There's nobody to do anything for him," he said.

Baker put collection canisters in Henicle's Market on U.S. 30 East and at Red's Market at 10503 South Mountain Road in Fayetteville.

Danielle Bakner, a clerk at Red's Market, said the three boys, especially Wagaman, frequented the store. "He was a friendly, quiet boy. He always came in for candy and beef jerky," she said.

Sandy Daywalt said his son and Barnes attend Waynesboro Area Senior High School. He said all three boys were friends.

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