School friends, fans ‘Remember Kassie’
Students from both schools at the game mourned the death of Kassie Mae Zavadil Turner, 16, a Llano High School junior who was killed in a single-vehicle wreck on Texas 71 July 8. Turner had attended Fredericksburg before moving to Llano.
But the living were honored on Friday as well.
Before the kickoff, both sides of the stadium cheered Llano High School student David Justin Logan, 17, who survived the accident that claimed his friend’s life.
Logan, who is still undergoing physical therapy, said he was there to honor Turner’s memory and cheer his team, the Yellowjackets.
This was his first football game of the season.
“It feels great,” he said. “I’m rooting for my team. It’s outstanding.”
Logan, who once played football for Llano, was standing on the Yellowjackets sideline with his orange football jersey on.
Two other Llano students, Corey Wunderlich, 17, and Terry Inman, 16, were also injured in the accident this summer.
Several Yellowjacket fans wore shirts that read, “We love Justin.”
His older brother Brandon Logan sported a shirt that read, “Remember Kassie.”
“It’s her night,” he said.
Because she attended both Llano and Fredericksburg schools, bands from both campuses performed in tandem “Don’t Worry, Be Happy,” which also was played at her funeral.
Brandon Logan said David Justin Logan has received a lot of support from family and friends as he continues to recover from the accident.
Currently, the younger Logan is in a rehab center where he undergoes speech, occupational and physical therapy.
“The speech works on memory and talking,” Brandon Logan said. “He’s been doing that over two months.”
The younger Logan can speak clearly. However, memory retention is difficult, his brother said.
“His personality still needs to come back,” he said.
Still, Logan said the family feels blessed by his little brother’s progress.
“When he first got to the rehab center, he couldn’t move his eyes,” he said. “He’s come a long way. He stands by himself. He’s walking by himself. He’s talking.”
Doctors told the Logan family it takes an average of two years for patients to heal after brain injuries.
“Brain injuries are slow,” Logan said. “Players who suffer concussions could be out for a month. This is so much more.”
The Llano football team beat Fredericksburg, 32-29, for its first District 8-3A win of the season. And no one enjoyed it more than David Justin Logan.
According to an incident report by DPS Trooper Kenneth Morgan, a 2001 Ford pickup carrying the four students was headed east on 71 around 10 p.m. July 8 when it left the right side of the road.
The vehicle overcorrected, the report said, crossing both lanes of traffic and striking an embankment on the left side of the road. The vehicle then rolled back across both lanes of traffic, coming to rest upright in a ditch on the right side of the roadway, according to the report.
jfierro@thepicayune.com