A one-car crash in Woodstock this week that took the life of a Pope High School soccer player and another teen also caused serious injuries to three other passengers.
One of them is Chris Peixoto, a soccer player at Lassiter High School, who has been hospitalized, the Cherokee Sheriff’s Office said.
Friends of Peixoto, 17, have begun a fundraiser to help pay for his medical expenses, and have received pledges of more than $55,000.
Organizer Emiliano Gonzalez, also a Lassiter soccer player, said that Peixoto “was fortunate to survive, but is going to need multiple medical procedures, surgeries and therapy.”
Peixoto is a senior who has been a member of Lassiter’s state championship soccer teams in 2022 and 2023.
Others involved in organizing the fundraiser are Aiden McConnie, a Lassiter soccer player, and Sprayberry soccer player Gavin Crowe.
Peixoto was a passenger in a Mazda 6 that crashed into a tree on Towne Lake Parkway Tuesday night. Gabriel Escandon, 17, a senior at Pope, was pronounced dead on the scene of the crash.
The Cherokee Sheriff’s Office said that Esteban Cortez-Rendon of Woodstock, who turned 18 on Tuesday, also died after being rushed to Wellstar Kennestone Hospital.
The sheriff’s office said that the driver of the car was an 18-year-old from Smyrna who also is hospitalized, along with an 18-year-old from Tulsa, Okla.
Authorities said speed may be a factor but are still investigating the crash.
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