Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – The first anniversary of the crash which killed five children at the Y-Not after-school center in Chatham is not to be ignored.
“I’m going to be honest about why we chose to mark this day together,” said Brian Brennen. president and CEO of HSHS St John’s Hospital. “Not because it’s easy; it isn’t. But because some moments ask us to not look away, and this is one of those.”
“A light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it,” said Dr. Brock Phillips, a pediatrician who practices at HSHS in Chatham. “So I hope all of you can be the light.”
The ceremony took place at HSHS St John’s Children’s Hospital, though Springfield Memorial Hospital participated as well.
The ceremony honored the memories of the five children who died: Ainsley Johnson, Kathryn Corley, Alma Buhnerkempe, Rylee Britton, and Bradley Lund; and five children who survived their injuries: Mia Miller, Blair Pryor, Livvy Tuttle, Ella Orsi, and Emma Finch.
