Osceola student killed in 1-car crash

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BY KENDRA WALTKE / Lincoln Journal Star

Alaina Hegi’s life ended Friday about five miles from her home at Duncan Lakes, a residential area along the Platte River southwest of Columbus.

The 16-year-old was driving on a rural road, headed south to Osceola High School.

Suddenly, around 7:35 a.m., she lost control of her car, rolled and came to a stop upside down in a water-filled ditch.

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Alaina Hegi (courtesy photo)

Alaina Hegi (courtesy photo)

The wreck was first spotted by a school bus carrying Osceola students. Its driver called for help.

“We believe it was minutes after the accident happened,” said Polk County Sheriff Dwaine Ladwig.

The Polk County Sheriff’s Office and Columbus Fire & Rescue responded, and several area farmers helped rescue workers remove Hegi’s car from the water. Hegi had been wearing a seatbelt.

But it was too late.

Hegi was taken by ambulance to Columbus Community Hospital, where she was later pronounced dead.

Tuesday would have been her 17th birthday, said her mother, Mary Kay Dixon.

A junior at Osceola, Hegi was an A student and treasurer of her class, Dixon said. She also helped out at her church, St. Stanislaus of Duncan.

Like many teenagers, she often could be found texting or on the phone, and she spent the majority of her time laughing and having fun with her best friend, Kelsey.

“She was just a wonderful girl,” Dixon said of her daughter. “She really cared about people, no matter who you were.”

She hadn’t decided on what she wanted to study after high school, but thought she might get a minor in Spanish, her mother said.

“I’ll miss her smile, her little quips and her jokes. She’d always come up with something you would laugh at,” Dixon said.

Hegi drove Friday because she had to work at Subway in Columbus after school, Dixon said.

She is survived by her mother and stepfather, Ron Dixon; her father,  Mark Hegi of Columbus; her sister, Heather Hegi, 20, attending Wayne State College; stepsister Lindsey Ann Dixon; stepbrother Jeremy Michael Dixon; her grandmothers, Mary Rose Schmid of Bellwood and June Hegi of Columbus; and best friend Kelsey Ramsey. 

Weather probably played a part in the accident, Ladwig said. As much as 6 inches of snow fell on Polk County last week, he said.

Reach Kendra Waltke at 473-7303 or kwaltke@journalstar.com.