New jersey: A Pageant Queen's Passage
February 22 2016 By Abiodun Giwa
Cara McCollum
At 24, she had a great future as a pageant queen, but unfortunate accident and death had taken her and the future she had in wait for her. It is the sad story of Cara McCollum, 2014 Miss New jersey.
Her family announced on Monday that she died as a result of injuries she had sustained from a car accident in Route 55, Pittsgrove, NJ, last Tuesday.
A news report in ABC's Action News said that Cara was alone in her car at the time of the accident and that she did not wear a seat belt, when her car veered off the road and struck a tree, then spun again and hit two more trees before ending up in an embankment, according to police report.
Although, police report said McCollum appeared to have been driving too fast for conditions on the wet roadway. They do not believe alcohol or drugs were a factor and that the car's air bags deployed. The report is silent on why McCollum had failed to wear the seat belt. Wearing the seat belt is compulsory for motorists in the state, believed as capable of saving lives in unavoidable accident situation.
The Miss New Jersey education foundation in a statement on Monday describes McCollum as an exceptional young woman and that she will be remembered as a lovely soul. In her victory speech as Miss New Jersey in 2014, McCollum said, "It's a great year to be Miss New Jersey, because I am the first one that will be back in Boardwalk Hall. So, a little bit of added pressure, but I'm just so pleased to have my home crowd here."
Her family members were reportedly around her bed at the operating room, where she died early on Monday before the announcement of her passage on the Facebook. Rita Pali, a resident of New jersey and others, who heard about McCollum's passage feel a sense of loss and McCollum's passage shows to have become a common discussion in new Jersey.
Her family announced on Monday that she died as a result of injuries she had sustained from a car accident in Route 55, Pittsgrove, NJ, last Tuesday.
A news report in ABC's Action News said that Cara was alone in her car at the time of the accident and that she did not wear a seat belt, when her car veered off the road and struck a tree, then spun again and hit two more trees before ending up in an embankment, according to police report.
Although, police report said McCollum appeared to have been driving too fast for conditions on the wet roadway. They do not believe alcohol or drugs were a factor and that the car's air bags deployed. The report is silent on why McCollum had failed to wear the seat belt. Wearing the seat belt is compulsory for motorists in the state, believed as capable of saving lives in unavoidable accident situation.
The Miss New Jersey education foundation in a statement on Monday describes McCollum as an exceptional young woman and that she will be remembered as a lovely soul. In her victory speech as Miss New Jersey in 2014, McCollum said, "It's a great year to be Miss New Jersey, because I am the first one that will be back in Boardwalk Hall. So, a little bit of added pressure, but I'm just so pleased to have my home crowd here."
Her family members were reportedly around her bed at the operating room, where she died early on Monday before the announcement of her passage on the Facebook. Rita Pali, a resident of New jersey and others, who heard about McCollum's passage feel a sense of loss and McCollum's passage shows to have become a common discussion in new Jersey.
