Young and ambitious: 20-year-old identified as woman killed after tragic highway crash
It’s been a harrowing week for the family and friends of Jenna Hepperle after she was killed in a serious highway crash.
Hepperle was one of four passengers in an Uber on Sunday, February 18, which had pulled over to the side of Highway 1 near the Sprott Street off-ramp. While stopped, another vehicle, an SUV, travelling in the same direction hit the vehicle. The fatal crash happened around 3:45 am.
The 20-year-old Maple Ridge resident leaves behind her mother, father, and brother.
Jeanine Hayes, a close friend and colleague to Hepperle’s mother, called the tragic incident “incredibly sad” as the young woman “Was such a good person.” She added that the death is “such a huge loss.”
Hayes told Daily Hive that she and others believed the Hepperle was “too good for this world.”
Another friend of Hepperle’s mother, Lawren Caponero, set up a GoFundMe where she described the 20-year-old as a young person “filled with so much ambition, kindness and love for others.”
“Her [mother’s] one and only daughter and light of so many lives had been ripped from this world forever,” Caponero said.
Hepperle’s long-time neighbour, Roberta Paliotti, described the young woman as a loving, sweet girl who adored animals. She added that Hepperle was “dedicated to making a good life for herself” and had been saving for a home.
“She just turned 20 but had so many goals for her future,” Paliotti said.
“Jenna was a great girl.”
The GoFundMe has been set up to support Hepperle’s mother to ease the funeral expenses “and all the things that go along with saying goodbye to sweet Jenna,” Caponero wrote.
“We ask for your support for [Hepperle’s mother] and her family at this terrible time. This is every mother’s worst nightmare, and I want to lessen any burden we can for her in the coming days,” she added.
The fundraiser has raised $23,000 as of Sunday afternoon and has been flooded with condolences from the community.
“Although these girls made all the right and responsible choices, tragedy still struck and has left so many lives in ruins,” Caponero added.
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According to Jennifer Miller, whose daughter was injured in the crash, four friends had been out celebrating one of their birthdays and took an Uber home together.
Miller’s daughter was sick in the backseat and said the driver pulled over to help.
“Her friend was holding her hair on the side of the road. Her friend screamed her name in absolute fear. Next thing my daughter knew, she was over the median in the grass/gravel,” Miller said.
Miller told Daily Hive that the young woman who died at the scene was sitting in the middle seat.
A separate GoFundMe was set up to help the surviving young women and their families take time off work to recover and grieve the loss of their friend.
“The girls had plans of moving in together just to afford rent, going to college in Vancouver, they had goals, dreams,” Miller wrote. “And now they are going to have to learn a new reality.”
Hayes is questioning why the Uber driver pulled over to the side of the highway. A petition has been created to mandate vomit bags in ride shares (like Uber, Lyft) and taxis in BC to prevent “unnecessary stop on the side of the road.”