Two UW-Whitewater students die in one week
Two University of Wisconsin-Whitewater students died last week, one from injuries she received as a result of a vehicle crash and the other from traumatic brain injury. According to an article in the Gazette Extra, university announcements were sent to students, faculty and staff last Wednesday and Thursday about the deaths, which occurred separately. “Abigail […]
Two University of Wisconsin-Whitewater students died last week, one from injuries she received as a result of a vehicle crash and the other from traumatic brain injury.
According to an article in the Gazette Extra, university announcements were sent to students, faculty and staff last Wednesday and Thursday about the deaths, which occurred separately.
“Abigail Conner, 20, died Jan. 12 as a result of a traumatic brain injury, according to the announcement. Ryan T. Gellings, 21, died Jan. 13 from a traffic accident,” the article reads. “Conner was a first-semester junior in the College of Letters and Sciences after transferring from Waukesha County Technical College, according to the announcement. Gellings majored in integrated science/business.”
The announcement did not include how Conner suffered traumatic brain injury, but it was confirmed in the announcement by university spokesman Jeff Angileri that she did not die on campus.
Memorial services for both Gellings and Conner were held on Thursday at different locations.
The UW-Whitewater flag flew at half-staff Thursday in Gellings’ memory and on Saturday in Conner’s memory, according to the announcements.
The university also offered counseling services through the University Health and Counseling Services department in the Ambrose Health Center.
No other details about Gellings’ crash or Conner’s TBI were mentioned in the announcements.
An estimated 1.7 million people sustain a TBI annually in the United States. Of those affected, 52,000 die and 275,000 are hospitalized, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
About 1.4 million (nearly 80%), are treated and released from an emergency department.
Motor vehicle/traffic injury is the leading cause of TBI-related deaths in the U.S. Rates are highest for adults aged 20 to 24-years-old.
