Methuen High School Online

By Mark E. Vogler
Staff Writer for Eagle-Tribune

METHUEN — Nearly a decade after Kristen Joy Santoro and three other teenage girls died in a car crash that left them remembered as the Methuen Angels, her parents publicly honored "the unsung heroes" who helped their family cope with the tragedy.

At this year's Kristen Joy Santoro Annual Fundraiser Dinner, Joseph and Joy Santoro gave a $1,000 check to the Trauma Intervention Program of the Merrimack Valley. They also praised the longtime service of TIP volunteers in providing emotional support to hundreds of people whose lives have been devastated by the sudden deaths of loved ones or other traumatic events.

"It is very difficult for me to give due justice and to explain how important this organization is to my family, our community, as well as the surrounding communities," Joseph Santoro said.

"The donation to TIP was something the family wanted to do for a long time. We all thought that this organization was special and would make Kristen's 10th anniversary dinner special," he said.

Santoro told a gathering of some 200 people at the Wyndham Andover hotel that he's thought of TIP numerous times since his daughter's death.

The Methuen Angels — Kristen Santoro, Vicky L'Italien and Deidre Ann DiDio, all of Methuen, and Elana Matczak of Windham, N.H. — were on a trip to the University of Massachusetts in Amherst on Oct. 3, 1998, when they were killed in a car accident.

Santoro recalled that it was 11 that night when a TIP team, accompanied by Methuen police, state police and clergy, came to his front door with the grim news of Kristen's death in a horrific accident. It was a sad memory he said he relives every day — "the first time in my life I was completely out of control."

But as the family began to grieve, Santoro also remembered the tender, loving support he got from the TIP representatives — the strangers who came into his home when his world seemed to be falling apart.

"I remember people hugging my son, daughter and wife," Santoro said. "Someone sat down beside me and held my hand. They told me that they would take care of anything I need. That was what I needed. I saw people that I never met before crying for the loss of my daughter.

"When you hear on the news about an accident and a families struggle to get their life's back to normal, it is seldom mentioned the support groups that were available at that most important time. It was my family, friends, colleagues, Methuen Police Department, state police and the Trauma Intervention Program of the Merrimack that made the differences on that day and thereafter," he said.

Santoro called TIP an organization of "unsung heroes," who are on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week to help people. A few weeks ago, he wrote a letter to TIP's executive director and founder Jayan Landry inviting the group to the dinner to accept a donation. Landry and TIP volunteer Gina Bonanno — both who helped comfort the Santoro family on the night of their tragedy — attended.

Landry later remarked that it was "a humbling experience," yet pleasant surprise for someone to pay public tribute to TIP so many years after responding to a tragic event.

"In addition, we received a warm hug and 'thank you' from Mr. and Mrs. Daniels — the parents of JD Daniels, the young boy who was killed in a hit-and-run car accident a year earlier on the same date as the Methuen Angels," Landry said. "Ironically, Gina and I were both on that call, too."

Joseph Anthony Daniels IV died Oct. 3, 1997, after being struck by a hit-and-run driver on his 13th birthday.

"To see these families who have bonded together in the spirit of healing by doing an annual fundraiser to give scholarship money to the Methuen schools and back to TIP brought the whole experience full circle for me as the proud director of this organization," Landry said.

"These survivors are incredible people who have found their peace, strength and healing in reaching out to help others," she said.

Landry also noted that TIP's response to the deaths of the Methuen Angels set a precedence on how local police work with the organization in making next of kin notifications. Methuen police Capt. Thomas Fram, then a lieutenant, called for four TIP volunteers. He assigned each one to a team with local and state police and clergy to visit each of the grieving families.

Since its inception, the Kristen Joy Santoro Memorial and Scholarship Fund has awarded nearly $40,000, including 25 scholarships to Methuen High School seniors and donations each year to a chosen charitable organization. On June 6, three Methuen High seniors will receive scholarships at graduation.

The money is raised by Kristen's Annual Fundraiser Dinner, family donation, donations from friends and colleagues. Donations can be made to the Kristen Joy Santoro Memorial and Scholarship Fund. The fund is managed by the Banknorth, 228 Haverhill St., Methuen, MA 01844.

Source: http://www.eagletribune.com/punews/local_story_140233918.html