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Family, East High grieve devastating loss of Faith
Photo
Jamie Bass, whose daughter was friends with East High School student Faith McCullough-Wooster, kneels beside a makeshift memorial for her on East High Avenue on Thursday. Faith was killed after she was run over by a city school bus Wednesday.
By JOE GORMAN
and DENISE DICK
news@vindy.com
YOUNGSTOWN
The father of the East High School student struck and killed by a school bus described his daughter as a kind, beautiful person who loved to sing, write and perform music.
“If you ever wanted to meet an angel,” said Max McCullough, his voice trailing off.
His daughter, Faith McCullough-Wooster, 14, was killed about 3 p.m. Wednesday when she was run over by a city school bus. She was a freshman at the school.
“She was so kind, so loving,” he said.
Faith played guitar, bass and drums and enjoyed singing. She wrote music as well as stories.
This was the first year the McCullough children — Faith and brothers Harley, 13, and David, 11 — were city school students. They were home-schooled last year, attended a charter school the year before, and before that, the family lived in Pennsylvania.
McCullough tears up, his voice breaking when he talks about the drive to the campground last weekend.
Faith was singing a song, “If I Die Young,” on the way, he said.
Wednesday afternoon, McCullough and Faith’s mother, Karen Leaf, were sitting in the family’s home when Leaf said, “‘Something’s happened,’” McCullough said.
She got up and he followed. They headed to the high school.
When he arrived, he saw his daughter lying in the roadway. He knew it was her. “I could see her beautiful long hair,” McCullough said.
He disputes accounts of the accident reported by the media, based on people who said they saw what happened. He doesn’t think it was a freak accident but something that was preventable.
Funeral arrangements haven’t been finalized, McCullough said.
A news release from the Mahoning County Coroner’s Office said Faith died instantly of blunt-force injuries to the head. The release also said her family is donating Faith’s tissues.
That’s what she wanted, her dad said.
“Awhile ago we were talking, we had just watched some crime show or something,” he said. “She said, ‘Dad, if something happens to me, I don’t want to just be laid out with everybody looking at me. I want to help somebody,’” McCullough said.
He told her that was the kind of thing she would have to do for him, not the other way around.
Counselors and pastors helped students cope with Faith’s death.
In fact, a group of area pastors said they have been coming to the school for years, and that relationship makes their work in this crisis a bit easier because they already are familiar with the students.
Schools Superintendent Connie Hathorn said there was no thought of closing school Thursday, because students needed to be in a familiar place so they could have access to help in dealing with their emotions.
“I think right now the students need someone to talk to,” Hathorn said. “This is a good place to be for them.”
Witnesses said Faith and a friend were playing and rolling down a hill on the side of the school that abuts East High Avenue as the bus was traveling west. The bus stopped when Faith stopped rolling on the sidewalk. The bus then began moving forward but Faith stood up and perhaps became dizzy, fell into the street and was run over.
A member of the department’s Accident Investigation Unit said the bus driver was not driving fast when the accident occurred and had swerved to try to avoid hitting the girl.
After school let out Thursday, Jamie Bass stopped at the site. She said her daughter Alexia was good friends with Faith and that her daughter is struggling to deal with her emotions.
“It’s hard. Nobody expects to lose someone like that at this age. As a mother you feel helpless,” Bass said.
D&E Counseling Services had 13 counselors at the school, in addition to the pastors — the Rev. Kenneth Donaldson of Rising Star Baptist Church, the Rev. Julius Davis of Friendship Baptist Church in Girard, and the Rev. Ernest Ellis of Antioch Baptist Church — and Lloyd Hughes, a lay member of Rising Star.
The pastors said their goal is to meet the students where they are and counsel them through their grief and feelings.
“Hurt hurts, if you’re a person of faith or not,” Pastor Donaldson said. “We allow them to grieve where they’re at. It’s not a time to spiritualize their hurt.”
Pastor Ellis said he learned about Faith, who friends said was a talented artist who also excelled at making up rap music on the spot.
Pastor Davis said some have told him because of Faith’s death they want to treat others better.
“There are those who said how they are not going to bully anymore,” Pastor Davis said.
Pastor Donaldson said Faith was not a person who was afraid to be different, and he told the students that being different is a gift from God.
“She really left an imprint on their lives,” he said.
They also spoke of the bus driver, and said they would take the same approach of just listening and talking to her.
Pastor Donaldson said a lot of times people question God and are angry in these types of situations. He said people need to know there is nothing wrong with those emotions. He said the Bible is full of people questioning God, and that God can take the tough questions.
Bob Conkey of D&E Counseling said its counselors also are trained to listen. He said a concern about students in situations like these is depression, anxiety and replaying the accident in their minds if they saw it.
“What we offer is a lot of listening to help these kids process what happened,” Conkey said.
A neighbor, Jackie Edwards, was also on hand after school. She placed a stuffed animal near the site where Faith died. She said she was moved to do so because it made her think of her own 14-year-old grandchild.
“It’s just a sad, sad thing,” Edwards said, also urging prayers for the bus driver.