Counselors ready to help students deal with loss of accident victims
A quiet, contemplative place on any given day took on a somber tone Monday with a team of counselors and psychologists assembled in the Laurel Highlands Senior High School Library ready to help students mourning the loss of two of their own. Having had some difficulty with positive identification, state police named Carrie Rapano, 17, of Uniontown, Monday afternoon as the driver of the car in which she and Tylar Lyn Andaloro, 18, of Hopwood, were killed Sunday morning along Route 119 in Georges Township.
Fayette County Coroner Dr. Phillip E. Reilly said the cause of death for both victims was severe blunt force trauma to the head and facial area.
State police in an initial press release named a 21-year-old New Cumberland, W.Va., woman as the deceased driver. Reilly said Rapano had disfiguring injuries and was carrying the wrong drivers’ identification that was a close physical match to the West Virginia woman, although other information helped make the correction.
Police originally contacted the family of the West Virginia woman before finding out that she wasn’t in the accident.
“It was a nightmare all along. The match on the identification matched the girl even to the eye color,” Reilly said.
Reilly said no autopsies were performed but an inquest would be held at a later date.
Andaloro was expected to serve as the senior class of 2002 valedictorian. She was involved in a variety of school activities as well as a noted athlete.
“She (Andaloro) was just a great girl – number one in her class and on the track team. I just saw her the better part of the day Saturday for the county (Fayette County Coaches’ Association) track meet. She got second in discus and third in shot put,” said substitute Principal Dr. Gary Brain.
Brain said Rapano also was a Laurel Highlands student, although he said he was not well acquainted with her.
“She (Rapano) was a nice girl but I didn’t know her very well,” he said.
Brain said group meetings were held with the teachers and track team to discuss the accident and counselors were made available to the student body.
The counselors of Chestnut Ridge Counseling Services Inc., the school district’s psychologists and the high school’s own guidance counselors will be available again today.
“We will come in throughout the week. There could be delayed reaction. We are looking toward the time after the funerals and viewings when someone may have a difficult time,” said Melanie McMillen of Chestnut Ridge.
McMillen said the team met first with the faculty before students arrived for classes to discuss what happened and how they may interact with the students. She said they gave one on one support to students during the day, offering critical incident stress debriefing that concerns a process of talking about how the situation affected the individual students. They also passed out informational handouts on the grieving process.
McMillen and her colleagues said individual responses differ according to the different types of relationships they may have had with the deceased teen-agers.
One of the items they distributed was a list of signs of grief and loss that parents can watch for. As compiled by the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, the signs include an extended period of depression in which the child loses interest in daily activities and events; inability to sleep, loss of appetite, prolonged fear of being alone; acting much younger for an extended period of time; excessively imitating the dead person; repeated statements of wanting to join the dead person; withdrawal from friends; or sharp drop in school performance or refusal to attend school.
The counselors said even when they are gone the Student Assistance Program (SAP) option is always available in the school, giving students support at any time.
State police said Rapano was driving a 2000 Pontiac Firebird coupe north on Route 119 near the York Run Grange, about one mile north of Smithfield, around 6:30 a.m. Sunday when she lost control of the car and began to slide on the roadway.
Police said the car crossed the double yellow line and collided with a 2001 Chevrolet 2500HB pick-up truck driven south on Route 119 by Dan Angelo Izzi III, 33, of Uniontown.
Police said the teen-agers were not wearing seatbelts and deputy coroner Robert Furin pronounced them dead at the scene at 7:20 a.m.
Police said Izzi was wearing a seatbelt and reported no injuries. The car and truck sustained major damage.
Smithfield Fire and Rescue and Fairchance Firemen’s Ambulance responded to the scene to assist police. Frank’s Texaco of Smithfield towed the car and A&F Auto Service of Smithfield towed the truck from the scene.
Andaloro is survived by her parents, Steve E. and Lynette F. (Matthews) Andaloro of Hopwood, and two sisters, Heather L. and Katey M., both at home.
Friends will be received in the Haky Funeral Home, 139 West Fayette St., Uniontown, Tuesday from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m., and Wednesday, May 1, when funeral services will be held.
Rapano is survived by her parents, John V. Rapano and Sandra Hamer Rapano and one brother, Thomas L. Rapano.
She was a member of Trinity United Presbyterian Church and a Peer Group Mediation Counselor.
Funeral arrangements are being handled by the Andrew D. Ferguson Funeral Home, 80 Morgantown St., Uniontown.
A funeral service will be held on Wednesday, May 1, at 1:30 p.m. from Trinity United Presbyterian Church, Morgantown at West Fayette streets, Uniontown.
Interment will be private.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to Touchstone Center for the Arts, 1049 Wharton Furnace Road, Farmington, Pa., 15437.