Team captain grapples with loss of teammates

In the early hours of Saturday morning, Jordan Frenette's mother woke him up to tell him his basketball team had been in an accident.

Frenette, 17, could have been in the van that fish-tailed on an icy stretch of road just outside of Bathurst, N.B., and slammed head-on into a transport truck, killing seven members of the Bathurst High School Phantoms boys' basketball team and the coach's wife.

Four others in the van survived the crash. The truck driver was uninjured.

Frenette, a captain on the Phantoms team, wasn't in the van because he was feeling ill and had decided to save his energy for another game later in the weekend.

"If it hadn't been for that game, I probably would have made the trip to Moncton," he said.

Mixed emotions on return to school

Frenette returned to school with his classmates on Monday with mixed emotions.

"I have lost friends who were as close to me as brothers," said Frenette. "At the same time, I have to be happy that I wasn't in it myself. All of the things that have happened are so contrasting. It's hard to deal with everything at once."

Five of those who died — Nathan Cleland, Justin Cormier, Daniel Hains, Javier Acevedo and Codey Branch — were 17 years old. The other two students were Nickolas Quinn, 16, and Nicholas Kelly, 15.

Elizabeth Lord, 51, was a teacher at an elementary school and known for her love of music. Her husband, Wayne Lord, the team's coach and the driver of the van, was among four survivors.

Lord was treated and released from hospital early Saturday.

"Physically, he's fine but I mean mentally he's got some things he's going to have to deal with," said Frenette, who has visited the coach. "But we're all here for him and we're going to have to support him."

Lord's daughter and two other players also survived the crash.

One of the two injured players has also been discharged. The other, who was in intensive care, has been transferred to the Saint John Regional Hospital. Lord's daughter remains in hospital, listed in stable condition.

Frenette said his two surviving teammates told him the crash was horrific.

"One of them told me it was almost as like something suddenly pushed the van across the road, just out of nowhere," Frenette said.

Faces future without friends

The youth said he didn't know what life will be like without his friends.

"It's rough," he said. "I mean, most weekends I spend with those kids, either playing basketball or just hanging out."

More than 30 counsellors were at the school on Monday.

Going into school to be with the other students was the right choice, Frenette said.

"It was good for me, personally, just to go in and see everybody, try to help each other deal with what's happened."

A public funeral service will be held at Bathurst's K.C. Irving Civic Centre for the seven teenagers this Wednesday at 2 p.m. AT. CBCNews.ca will carry the event on a live video stream.

A separate funeral is planned Thursday for Elizabeth Lord.