Andrew Thomas McCann died on the morning of January 26, 2012 while on his way to school. Andrew was a passenger in a vehicle being driven by his best friend, Julian Reis, who was distracted by his phone when his vehicle started to drift into the right lane of Route 140 in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Reis over-corrected, causing the car to roll over. Andrew was not wearing a seat belt and was killed upon being thrown from the car.
Andrew was a senior at Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational-Technical High School where he was in the plumbing shop and dedicated to learning his trade because of his love for his teachers. He was an All-Star and All-Conference athlete and the captain of the football team and the baseball team and also participated in winter track.
Andrew was the Standard-Times Unsung Hero in 2011 and received an honorable mention on the Southcoast Conference All-Star Team in 2011. He had been active in the Whaling City Youth Baseball, the Greater New Bedford Pony League, the Greater New Bedford Colt League, and the New Bedford Bears throughout the years. His aspiration was to attend college at American International College in Springfield to major in Business Management with the goal of becoming a vocational teacher at his former high school.
Andrew was a remarkable, respected, and loved young man with an unrelenting work ethic and sheer determination. He was sincere and humble, someone who would be successful in life because of his persistence and attitude. A recent college letter of recommendation from one of his advisors states: “Andrew McCann will succeed at whatever endeavor he pursues because he has the work ethic to set goals and work towards them until he is successful. He has not let anything stop him from getting what he wants in life so far at a very young age.”
Andrew left behind loving parents, siblings, grandparents, cousins, other relatives, and friends. In response to the tragic death of Andrew McCann, the Massachusetts Teen Distracted Driving Leadership Summit was created to educate and empower high school leaders to help end distracted driving. In two years, the event has impacted over 70,000 high school students in the Southern New England Area with the message of safe teen driving.
