Hendersonville High School student-athlete Elyja Gibbs dies in car accident

Zachary Huber, Hendersonville Times-News
·2 min read

A Hendersonville High School multi-sport athlete died in a one-car accident Thursday morning.

North Carolina Highway Patrol public information officer Rohn Silvers confirmed on the afternoon of Feb. 9 to the Times-News that 17-year-old Elyja Gibbs died Thursday morning after the accident.

Gibbs' mother, Altavise Gibbs, also announced in a social media post Thursday afternoon that her son had died.

Hendersonville High School principal Bobby Wilkins said the school held a memorial for him Thursday evening on the football field where teammates, coaches and parents were able to reminisce about Gibbs.

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A GoFundMe has been created to help offset funeral expenses for the family: https://www.gofundme.com/f/cj8y4-elyja-gibbs, and several tributes were shared on Facebook by friends and former coaches, including former Hendersonville High football coach Jim Sosebee, now at Crest High in Shelby.

Gibbs, a junior, started the first four games of the Bearcats' football season before suffering an ankle injury vs. Mountain Heritage. He had completed 66% of his passes for 813 yards, 10 touchdowns and one interception. He added 234 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.

Gibbs was also a two-year starter for the Hendersonville baseball team. As a sophomore last spring, he hit .360 and tied for the team lead in hits with 27 and third in RBI with 14.

Silvers said in an email that North Carolina Highway Patrol was dispatched to a single-vehicle, single-occupant collision on U.S. Highway 64 in Transylvania County, near Crab Creek Road, around 9:30 a.m. Thursday. He said the driver was speeding, lost control of the vehicle and crossed the center line.

The vehicle traveled off the left shoulder of the roadway, striking a tree before coming to a rest on the embankment. Gibbs was deceased upon troopers' arrival.

This article originally appeared on Hendersonville Times-News: Hendersonville student-athlete Elyja Gibbs dies in car accident