Accident claims life of another Rock Hills student

Accident

For the second time in less than a month, a motor vehicle accident has claimed the life of a member of the Rock Hills student body.

The motor vehicle accident which came 3 minutes before midnight Saturday took the life of Gavin Garst, 15, a sophomore attending Rock Hills High School.

According to the accident report filed by the Kansas Highway Patrol. a 2011 Toyota 4-Runner SUV was southbound on North McRoberts Street (east side of the Mankato City Park) when it went off the right side of the roadway near the park’s parking lot and entered the ditch. The vehicle was airborne for about 20 feet before landing and striking a tree.

At the point of impact, Garst was thrown from the vehicle. The vehicle continued southbound for a short distance before it came to rest on its tires.

Garst died at the accident scene.

The driver, Elliott Philip Whiteside, 18, of Tryon, North Carolina, was thought to have serious injuries and was taken to the Wesley Medical Center in Wichita for treatment. We have since learned he has also died. We have not learned of his funeral arrangements.

The Garst funeral will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Rock Hills Junior-Senior High School in Mankato. Counselors have been at the school this week to help students and their parents deal with the grief.

Gavin was the son of P J and Heather Garst of Mankato.

Daniel Garman, a Burr Oak area farmer who was injured in a two-vehicle accident south of Burr Oak on Nov. 4, died Tuesday morning. Garman had been hospitalized since the accident. That accident also claimed the life of Jacob Nance, a Mankato resident. Garman had been in a coma since the accident.

Triptyn Reynolds, a Rock Hills fifth grader, was killed when a school bus overturned Jan. 13. He also died at the accident location.

Wednesday Update

Since this issue was printed Tuesday night, we have learned the driver of the SUV, Elliott Philip Whiteside, has also died.