EagleTribune.com, North Andover, MA
Merrimack Valley
Former high school athlete and diving coach dies after bike accident
Published: September 20, 2008
ANDOVER — Kristin Kearins, 26, a former standout athlete at Andover High School and diving team coach at Central Catholic High School, died early yesterday morning after suffering severe head injuries in a bicycle accident last week.
Kearins, who had been in a coma and on life support since the Sept. 12 accident, died just after 2 a.m. Friday morning, according to her mother, Andover resident Pam Sheehy.
Kearins was with her family — including her mother, stepfather, brothers and sisters — at the time of her death, Sheehy said.
Kearins was found by a pedestrian facedown and without a pulse near her bike last week on the Charles River Dam Bridge in Boston. CPR was administered at the scene before she was transported to Massachusetts General Hospital, where she remained until her death.
Sheehy said it was possible that Kearins hit her head on the bridge railing.
She was not wearing a bike helmet at the time of the accident, Sheehy said.
The incident has been deemed an accident by the Suffolk County district attorney's office, according to office spokesman Jake Wark.
Kearins, whose friends called her "Krit," had been living in Charlestown and was the youngest of four siblings. Her father passed away when she was in the ninth grade.
Kearins had been working as a clinical nurse's assistant in the emergency room at Children's Hospital in Boston and had plans to attend nursing school.
"It's just a sad day," said Brendan Sheehy, Kearins' stepfather. "She was just a beautiful girl. Full of life. She loved kids. That's why she went to work at Children's (Hospital)."
Kearins was a member of the 1999 Andover High girls swimming and diving team that won the first of nine consecutive state titles. She also was on the gymnastics team.
Kearins went on to coach the dive team at Central Catholic High School for two years after graduating from Plymouth State University in New Hampshire with a degree in early childhood education. She also coached at Indian Ridge Country Club in Andover, Pam Sheehy said.
"She was a fabulous diver in her own right," said Scott Young, head coach of the boys and girls swim and dive team at Central Catholic. "The kids really looked up to her and admired her. She did a good job for us. She really brought our diving up to a new level."
Young said there are five seniors on his team this year that had Kearins as a coach.
"It was a terrible week for them," said Young. "They had all the questions that nobody could answer. Everybody's just kind of in shock."
At the end of August, Kearins went to Disney World in Florida to spend time with her sister, nieces and nephews, said her stepsister Colleen McCormick.
"She just had a lot of quality family time," said McCormick. "She was always laughing and she always had a great, positive energy."
