17-year-old girl dies from injuries sustained in Florida Keys boat crash. 10 others hurt

A 17-year-old girl died Monday from injuries she suffered as a result of a tragic boating crash off the Upper Florida Keys the night before.

Lucy Fernandez, a senior at Our Lady of Lourdes Academy, was with 13 other people on board a 28-foot Robalo center console that crashed into a channel marker around 6:30 p.m. Sunday. Eleven passengers were initially injured, four of them seriously, including Lucy, and taken to area hospitals.

“Known for her smile, larger than life personality and signature laugh, Lucy was a joy to all who knew her,” Sister Carmen T. Fernández, Our Lady of Lourdes Academy president, wrote in an email to students and parents Monday.

“She was a young woman of faith, well liked by her teachers and peers, empathetic, faithful and hungry for God,” Fernández wrote. “And though her sudden passing is heartbreaking and has come as a shock to us all, I have absolutely no doubt that Lucy was ready to meet our Lord and enter his Kingdom.”

Four people, including Lucy Fernandez, were airlifted as trauma alert patients after a Sunday evening boat crash in the Upper Florida Keys, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue said. At least two other people hurt are seniors at Our Lady of Lourdes, Sister Fernández said in the email.

According to the U.S. Coast Guard, the boat hit a channel marker and capsized. The crash happened around 6:30 p.m. in the Intracoastal Waterway in Biscayne Bay, about 10 miles south of Boca Chita, said Officer Jason Rafter with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the lead agency investigating the accident.

In video provided by Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, Capt. Juan Garrandes said Miami-Dade Police Marine Patrol units got to the crash site first, pulled some injured people out of the water and took them to Elliott Key island, from which they were airlifted. Then, Fire Rescue and Marine Patrol units collected the rest of the passengers and brought them to land.

Rescue crews set up operations at Black Point Marina in South Miami-Dade. Several people with minor injuries walked off the county vessel wrapped in white blankets. At least three of the people to exit the boat were children.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is the lead agency investigating the crash, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue’s Erika Benitez said.

Lucy is survived by her parents, Andy and Meli Fernandez, and a brother named Kevin, Sister Fernández (no relation), wrote in the memo.

The school scheduled a vigil service Monday to pray the Rosary in Lucy’s memory, and planned a prayer service when classes resume Tuesday. On Monday night, hundreds of people gathered around the first and second levels of the school’s courtyard as Sister Fernández led them in the Rosary, which consists of several prayers.

Many of those present were Lucy’s classmates. They clung to their Rosary beads while praying; many cried. In the stifling early September heat, several people fainted.

“Our team of guidance counselors, campus ministers, theology teachers and other licensed professionals will be available to provide support, comfort and reassurance to all those who need it,” Fernández said. ”May we continue to pray with each other and for each other, as we mourn the passing of one of our own. May Lucy and her beautiful smile rest in eternal peace.”

Alexandra Diaz taught Lucy theology during her freshman year. The 28-year-old got to know Lucy even more, however, in her role as campus minister. Lucy was a peer minister since she began high school, and the two worked together, forming a bond.

“We were very close all three years,” she said.

Diaz, also an Our Lady of Lourdes alumni, was grateful for all the people coming out to pray during the vigil, but added: “We honestly haven’t even started to heal. I think we’re just trying to cope.”

She described Lucy as someone whose faith, family and friends meant everything.

“She loved her family and friends so much,” she said.

As Lucy embarked on her last year of high school, Diaz noted the two talked about the importance of loving oneself in order to be able to care for others.

“She was really trying to make it a mission for this year to make sure that all those in her grade and school just know that they were loved,” Diaz said.