Maggie Radford's Mother Says Teens Need Grief Help

CROTON-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. – After the tragic New Year’s Day car accident that killed Maggie Radford, 17, of Croton, her mother said the village has provided an overwhelming amount of support for her family, but that Radford’s teenage friends are the ones who she feels need the most help in grieving.

“The thing that surprises us most is the outpouring from the Croton community because it wouldn’t be anywhere else. This is a unique village,” said Judy O’Hara, Radford’s mother.

Radford died tragically on New Year’s Day, after losing control of her BMW 328i on the on-ramp to I-95 northbound from I-287 in Port Chester. Radford’s girlfriend, Celia Sprouse, 16, was also in the car when the accident occurred. Sprouse suffered what was described by New York State Police as “severe” head trauma. Radford was pronounced dead at the scene.

O’Hara said she has been in contact with Sprouse’s parents about twice a day since the accident. She said the latest update she received on Sprouse’s condition was that she was responding to music. Sprouse initially entered the Westchester Medical Center in critical but stable condition.

Radford’s mother said she is most concerned about Radford’s teenage friends and hopes the focus of any publicity will be on finding them a venue to speak uncensored about their feelings.

“They’re the ones that I’m worried about. All I’ve been trying to do is get them to come over here and tell me stories, whatever they want to say,” O’Hara said.

O’Hara worries about Radford’s friends self-censoring in the presence of school guidance counselors, and hopes that an outside party can be found to help her friends cope. “They need to find a forum where they can talk unedited and not recorded,” she said.

Radford was a non-traditional student, who was intermittently homeschooled and attended Croton-Harmon Schools. She was working part-time while studying for her GED.

O’Hara said what defined her daughter most was her ability to handle tough situations through her writing.

“She was a writer, that she could handle painful things by writing about them. She was an artist, she’s been drawing since she was 2, maybe even before that. We’re a family of artists,” O’Hara said.

Like many families, O’Hara remembers bringing her daughter to the Black Cow from a young age, and walking the small riverside village. “We had many functions at the Black Cow, Maggie used to come there and photograph. That’s a place we started going to when she was 2. We’d walk in the worst snowstorms a couple of miles to get there and hang out, and defrost and spend the day, and then walk home. People thought we were a bit nutty but we love to walk.”

About the village, O'Hara said, “We love this place. We’ve travelled, walked around, photographed every inch of it – and that’s separately and together – and we love it here."

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