Middle schooler dies in ATV crash, South Carolina officials say. ‘The sweetest kid’

A middle school student died days after crashing while riding a four-wheeler, according to South Carolina officials.

Hagen Phillips, 12, was a student at Starr-Iva Middle School in Starr, about 120 miles northwest of Columbia, a school district spokesman told McClatchy News in an email.

Hagen was riding four-wheelers with three of his best friends on Oct. 9 when they crashed, according to a GoFundMe page.

The friends were “doing what they loved,” the page says. “Being friends, riding 4 wheelers, being young boys and having the time of their lives.”

At around 5 p.m., an ATV carrying four “drove through an intersection and hit a pickup truck,” South Carolina troopers told WHNS.

Hagen was taken to a hospital and placed on a ventilator, his grandmother, Lisa Brown Phillips, posted on Facebook on Oct. 9.

On Oct. 12, she posted that Hagen had died.

“Our family didn’t get the miracle we were hoping for,” she wrote. “Our precious Hagen Michael went to be with the lord.”

In a statement, administrators from Anderson County School District 3, the district overseeing Starr-Iva Middle School, called Hagen’s death a “tragic loss.”

“Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and the students, faculty, and staff of Starr-Iva Middle School,” the statement says. “The district crisis team will continue to be on-site to provide counseling, assistance, and support as needed.”

The three other people involved in the crash were also students of the school district, a spokesman said in an email. One was hospitalized but released within a week.

Friends remembered Hagen as a kind, happy person.

“I will always remember Hagen and his siblings riding their bikes up and down our road from their grandparents house,” Breanna McClain commented on the GoFundMe page. “He always seemed so happy and content. He was the sweetest kid.”

“Hagen, you are the best friend I have ever had,” commented Leia Purdy. “Even though I can fish better, thanks for teaching me so much about fishing.”

This story was originally published October 13, 2022 at 8:46 AM with the headline "Middle schooler dies in ATV crash, South Carolina officials say. ‘The sweetest kid’."