In Stafford, Va., a community is mourning a high school athlete who was known as "a friend to everyone."
Forrest Peterson died early Saturday after a single-car crash just a few miles away from his school. The 17-year-old had just left the locker room at Brooke Point High School following a Friday night football game when he somehow lost control of his car and crashed.
Funny, determined, smart and motivated is how friends and coaches have described Forrest.
"There wasn’t one person on our team who didn’t like him or, more importantly, respect the attitude that he had and the convictions that he had," said Brooke Point football coach Jeff Berry.
The entire school has been in a daze ever since, said close friend Jon Burgess.
"It was the quietest the hallways have been in my four years here," he said.
Forrest enrolled at the school last year after his father transferred to Quantico, but he made a big impression in that time, joining the football and wrestling teams and the Navy Junior ROTC. Since his death, more than 1,700 people have written heartfelt tributes to Forrest.
Virginia State Police are investigating the cause of the crash.
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Forrest was an organ donor, which is consoling for his grieving coach and teammates.
"A 13-year-old girl is going to get his heart, and we’ve been kidding all the time that girl is going to be able to run for days and days because Forrest was in shape," Berry said. "And then two newborns getting his liver, and it's just special, and that’s Forrest."
Services for Forrest will be held Thursday. He will be buried Friday. His football number, 51, will remain painted on the Brooke Point football field for the rest of the season.
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