Hundreds gather in tribute to Bluffton student killed in wreck

Eighth-grade graduation, high school, a long career in track and field. Grace Sulak had her eyes set on the future.

But her plans were cut tragically short Saturday night.

Sulak died in an auto wreck as she was on her way home from a Bluffton High School track meet in Columbia. She was only 14 years old, months away from graduating middle school at River Ridge Academy.

Two other people are in critical condition after the wreck in Calhoun County. Sulak died immediately at the scene after the car in which she was a passenger was struck, ran off the road and hit a tree on I-26 eastbound about 5:40 p.m. Saturday, the South Carolina Highway Patrol reported.

The driver of the car was Andrea Dewey, the mother of another member of the track team, 14-year-old Emma Dewey. Andrea and Emma Dewey were airlifted from the site of the wreck to the Palmetto Health Richland Trauma Center in Columbia, highway patrol reported.

Highway patrol investigators are searching for the driver they believe struck Andrea Dewey’s vehicle before leaving the scene. The vehicle being sought is white and expected to have damage on the right front fender area. It may be a pickup truck, the patrol reported.

Hundreds of people gathered for a vigil in Bluffton on Sunday night, dressed in white, to remember Sulak’s short life. They formed solemn groups on the field at the Bluffton High track, where the shy, kind teenager had spent hours sweating and laughing with her closest friends.

“I knew Grace was best person I know, but I didn’t realize so many other people thought like that,” the teen’s mom, Heidi Hanson, said to the large crowd who had all come to remember her daughter on Mother’s Day.

“She was so excited for high school, and if you could be pissed off in heaven, I think she would be right now, because she had a whole lot of fun things coming up,” Hanson said.

Grace Sulak was known as quiet and sweet, but the young girl had a wacky sense of humor known to her two moms, Hanson and Kristin Sulak, her twin sister Faith and her best friend Emma Dewey.

The two bonded over track. Emma Dewey was one of the few people who saw beyond Grace Sulak’s shy demeanor.

They sometimes said Emma Dewey was the family’s third twin, Hanson said Sunday.

“They were like peas in a pod,” she said.

The crowd prayed in circles for the Deweys’ recovery and sang “Amazing Grace” to remember their young friend, classmate, daughter and teammate.

But to close the somber night, the crowd walked and ran two laps around the Bluffton High track.

“It’s what Grace would have wanted,” said Lisa Lewellen, a mom of one of Sulak’s close teammates. “She was a beautiful soul, and she would have wanted some joy. That’s what we want our kids to remember her for — grace.”

Extra counselors will be at River Ridge Academy on Monday to help students with grief for their lost classmate, according to district spokesman Jim Foster.

On the scene

On Sunday afternoon, a neighbor of both the Dewey and Sulak families, Brian Watkins, said that he was the first trained responder on the scene of the wreck. Watkins, a Bluffton High Junior Reserve Officer Training Corp volunteer, happened to be driving a group of 22 Bluffton High JROTC cadets back from a visit to a theme park when they saw the wreck.

Watkins saw smoke and people crowding the vehicle, but there were no first responders yet on scene, he said. As a trained canine and rescue officer, Watkins approached the vehicle to help.

“I walked up not knowing it was my wife’s best friend and neighbor,” Watkins said. “All I knew was that they were people there in severe pain.”

Several of the Bluffton High JROTC cadets helped Watkins block off the scene of the wreck before law enforcement arrived, Watkins said.

“The cadets are crushed. I’m crushed,” Watkins said. “I’m still in shock that it happened.”

Watkins described his neighbor Grace Sulak as a smart, family-oriented girl who liked golf as well as track.

She was a talented runner with a positive attitude, said Bluffton High School track coach Enrique Baez.

“She was the sweetest girl that I’ve ever met,” Baez said. “She never said ‘no, I can’t,’ but would put her heart into everything with a big smile. It’s a tragedy.”

This story was originally published May 8, 2016 at 2:41 PM with the headline "Hundreds gather in tribute to Bluffton student killed in wreck."