Hersey Student-Athlete Dies After 3-Car Crash In Wheeling

WHEELING, IL — A John Hersey High School student and three-sport athlete at the school died Saturday after a speeding car hit her stopped vehicle, sending it into the intersection, where it was struck by another car. Six other people also were hurt in the accident, which occurred at about 2 p.m. Saturday, July 21, at the intersection of Milwaukee and Hintz Road in Wheeling.

Alyssa Lendino, 16, of Mount Prospect, was pronounced dead at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, according to the Arlington Heights Post. The identity of the driver of the car that first hit Lendino has not been released by Wheeling police, and he remains in serious condition, the report stated.

According to police, Lendino and her two passengers was stopped at a traffic light near the intersection when a car traveling at a high rate of speed hit her vehicle, the report stated. The force of the collision sent Lendino's car into the intersection, and she was struck again by another car, the report added.

Firefighters needed to extricate passengers from two of the three cars, the report stated. No charges have been filed stemming from the crash, and police are helping the multi-jurisdictional Major Case Assistance Team to investigate the accident, the report added.

Counselors from Hersey's Student Services Department will have hours from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Tuesday, July 24, and Wednesday, July 25, for students and staffers. Lendino had been a member of the school's track, swimming and bowling teams.

"She was the kind of person you wish your own kids will grow up to be like …," Jim Miks, the head coach for Hersey's girls track team, told the Post. "All of the kids on our team are suffering to try to understand how such a good person can be gone so fast. The grieving isn’t done."

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