#LoveForPaula: Classmates of mother killed in highway crash raise money for daughter
$20K goal surpassed for Rachael Ryan, who lost parents and brother
Classmates from Clarenville High have come together 17 years after graduation to help a friend's young daughter.
Paula Ryan was killed on Aug. 27, along with her husband Mike and son Mikey. The surviving member of the family is 13-year-old Rachael Ryan.
"Paula is someone that we all remember, you know. Her face, her smile is imprinted in us all," classmate and fundraiser organzier Tiah Pelley said.
"You can still hear her distinct laugh in the back of our minds and it just really hit home and shook us all and we knew it was something we all had to do."
The group started a GoFundMe account on Aug. 30 to create a trust fund for Ryan's daughter. Pelley said they didn't even know what goal to set, but by Sept. 1 the target of $20,000 was already surpassed.
"So now we're just hoping to keep spreading the word and see how much we can get for this little girl as a little nest egg in [the] face of such a horrible tragedy," Pelley said.
The money raised will be "held in trust until Rachael reaches the age of maturity, and given to her as a gift from her mom's graduating class," the fund's webpage said.
Zonya Vivian Reid, Ryan's first cousin who was also in the same class, said she wasn't at all surprised by the support of her peers.
"We had an amazing, amazing group going up through high school," she said.
"I can't even describe how it makes me feel [to be with the class again]. I just have no words. It's amazing … It's heartbreaking to have to go through this, but we have so, so much support, and that's what's helping."
Vibrant personality, beautiful person
Both Pelley and Reid describe Ryan as the kind of person to touch people, and leave a lasting impression.
"She [had] a vibrant personality, a very big personality. If you were in her company she made it known. She was a real firecracker," Pelley said.
"I have good memories of her and think she was an awesome person and definitely an amazing mother."
Growing up in the same family, Reid and Ryan didn't always see eye-to-eye, she said, but they loved each other.
"Paula was a beautiful person," Reid said.
"She had an impact on everybody that she met, by her smile, her laugh and just the person that she was. She'll never be forgotten."
Pelley said the group is holding Rachael Ryan in their hearts, and hopes the trust fund will help get her through such an unimaginably difficult time.
"Rachel is going to do wonderful in life. She has so much support. She is going to carry on like her mother would want her to do," Reid said.
"She's going to be a strong little girl and she's going to grow into a beautiful, beautiful adult — just like her mom."
With files from Terry Roberts