Two Coastal Carolina University students were killed in an ATV crash last week in Williamsburg County, authorities said. Hayden Hawkey of Mount Pleasant and Mary Clare Greene of Tennessee died Sept. 12 after the ATV they were riding collided with two trees, according to the Williamsburg County Coroner’s Office and the S.C. Highway Patrol.
The students were riding a Kawasaki Prairie ATV east along Garden Road near Good Earth Drive when they veered off the left side of the road and crashed into the trees, said Lance Cpl. Lena Butler of the Highway Patrol. The crash site is just a few miles outside Hemingway.
The exact details of who was driving and who was a passenger were not provided by the Highway Patrol. The operator was transported by EMS to a local hospital before succumbing to her injuries while the passenger died at the scene.
A CCU spokesman could not be reached for comment Sept. 16 as the campus was closed for inclement weather.
Hawkey and Greene were part of CCU’s LIFE program, which serves students with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities. It’s a four-year certificate program that provides on-campus housing.
In a Sept. 14 email to families of students in the program, Iliana Melendez, CCU’s assistant vice president and dean of students, wrote that counseling services would be available to students.
“Please know that when we heard the news, our priority was supporting our students,” she wrote. “With that in mind, Dean Richmond, LIFE Program staff, University Housing Staff, Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) staff, and I provided support for students as they began to process the loss of their friends.”
