Westmer student dies in car accident

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By J.C. Taylor | Friday, January 18, 2008 2:21 PM CST | () comments

David Miller (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)

A Joy, Ill. teen died early today from injuries sustained in a Tuesday night accident in Mercer County. Funeral arrangements are pending for David Miller, 17, at Dennison Funeral Home in Aledo. He was a senior at Westmer High School. Miller was pronounced dead at 4:30 a.m. at St. Francis Medical Center in Peoria. He was an organ donor and a recipient already had been lined up.

“He had a recipient for his liver, pancreas, both kidneys and heart valve,” said David’s mother, Kathy Miller of Joy. “This is something he had talked with us about several times.”

The recipient underwent surgery shortly after Miller died.

According to a Mercer County Sheriff’s Department report, Miller was the driver of a car that was involved in a one-vehicle accident just north of Hamlet, Ill., along Illinois 94 on Tuesday at about 10:15 p.m. He was taken by MedForce Helicopter to Trinity Medical Center in Rock Island and later airlifted to St. Francis in Peoria.

A passenger in the car, Jackie Bertelsen, 16, of Aledo, received minor injuries and was treated and released from Trinity.

Crisis team counselors are at Westmer Secondary School today to meet with grieving staff and students.