Details from officials have been hard to come by regarding the June 30 wrong-way crash on the A. Piatt Andrew Bridge that left Christopher J. Dailey, a new Gloucester High graduare and a co-captain of the hockey team, in critical condition in a Boston hospital before he died from his injuries on the Fourth of July.
A funeral Mass for the 18-year-old will be celebrated at St. Ann Church, 74 Pleasant St., at 10 a.m. Thursday, July 10, with internment following at Beech Grove Cemetery in Rockport, according to his obituary.
On Monday, a spokesperson for the Essex County District Attorney’s Office confirmed an older man, also critically injured in the crash, had been driving the wrong direction on Route 128 southbound before the crash June 30 about 1:45 a.m.
Michael Keefe-Feldman confirmed the crash involved a 2020 Honda CRV operated by an 81-year-old man “which was traveling north in the southbound lane on the bridge when it struck a 2011 Toyota Corolla operated by a 19-year-old woman traveling southbound.”
A statement provided by State Police at 7:16 p.m. the day of the crash said “preliminary information indicates that one of the vehicles was traveling north in the southbound lanes.” State Police did not give information about the vehicles or their direction of travel. State Police said two drivers and three passengers required emergency care at local hospitals, “including one who required MedFlight to Boston.”
A trooper in the State Police Office of Media Relations said in an email the office was not able to give out crash reports via email and referred questions to the district attorney’s office.
A statement from fire Chief Eric Smith also described a head-on two-car collision injuring five, with one of the cars rolling over.
Two people were trapped in the vehicles and had to be extricated. The statement said an 18-year-old, presumably Christopher Dailey, had to be freed before being taken to a nearby landing zone and flown by a medical helicopter to a Boston hospital in critical condition.
Three others — two 19-year-old women and the 81-year-old — were taken to Beverly Hospital by Fire Department and Beauport ambulances. Another 18-year-old man was taken to Addison Gilbert Hospital by a private vehicle.
All the young people have since been identified as graduates of Gloucester High and they were in the same car together heading southbound.
One of the 19-year-old women was later taken to Tufts New England Medical Center where she had been listed in critical condition. The other 19-year-old woman was treated at Beverly Hospital and released, the fire chief said. The 81-year-old man, who has not been identified by officials, was taken to Lahey Hospital and Medical Center in Burlington where he was listed in critical condition.
Keefe-Feldman said Monday he did not have any information available on the condition of the elderly driver.
Christopher Dailey’s obituary says he was born in Beverly, grew up in Gloucester and attended Rockport schools through eighth grade. He was involved in youth sports, including baseball, soccer and lacrosse, “but his true love was hockey.” Learning to skate at age 2, he went on to play as a four-year varsity player for the Fishermen serving as a co-captain and earning the distinction of Defenseman of the Year in his senior year. He graduated high school on June 8 and planned to study business at Coastal Carolina University in South Carolina in the fall. Among those he leaves behind are his parents Rich and Nicole Dailey and his sister, Rachel, with whom he shared an “unbreakable” bond.