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North Dakota Jogger Hit By Jeep Was Visiting, Volunteering On Spring Break
March 18, 2010
The young North Dakota college student killed Tuesday night in a vehicle-pedestrian accident on Highway 95A was in Escambia County with about 40 other youth taking part in a college service trip during her spring break.
The Florida Highway Patrol says Sarah D. Martinsen, 21, of Minot, North Dakota, was jogging southbound on the grassy shoulder of 95A with traffic. She entered the paved portion of the road and was struck by a 1995 Jeep driven by Melissa D. Arnold, 40, of Cantonment. Martinsen was pronounced dead at the scene by Escambia County EMS. Arnold and her passenger, 15-year old James D. Arnold, were not injured. No charges have been filed in the accident.
Martinsen was a junior majoring in sociology at North Dakota State University.
A native of Minot, N.D., she was in Escambia County as part of a service trip involving the NDSU chapter of Students Today Leaders Forever. The group, which included 40 members from NDSU and two from Minnesota State University Moorhead, was on a six-city “Pay It Forward Tour.” During the tours, students participate in service and leadership activities, learn about social issues, build relationships and make a commitment to continued action when they return home.
Earlier during the day of the accident, the students were in Tuscaloosa, Ala., where Martinsen worked with children with learning disabilities, cleaned the facility and participated in a dance party. A friend said Martinsen had called the experience the best day of her life.
“Sarah was such a great role model,” Megan Piper, a first-year student majoring in family and consumer sciences education from Casselton, N.D., who met Martinsen on the trip. “I want to live my life the way she lived hers. She inspired me from the very first time I spoke to her to the last time I saw her.
“I’m so happy she was part of my life, and that she got to have the best day of her life the day she left us. I can’t wait to see her again in heaven,” Piper said.
In Martinsen’s honor, the group cleaned a church in Pensacola Wednesday morning. The group also decided to continue on to New Orleans, the last stop of the tour, where they were scheduled to meet six other Pay It Forward Tour buses to participate in a joint service project and celebration.
Martinsen was membership chair of the Phi Eta Sigma national honor society and a member of NDSU Sociology Club. She was the daughter of Wayne Martinsen and Debra DeWitz, Minot, ND.
“Our heart goes out to family and friends of Sarah Martinson, she was a model student and clearly a person who cared about others as evidenced by her participation in this program. Our university has suffered a great loss,” said NDSU university spokeswoman, Najla Amundson.
Pictured: North Dakota State University student Sarah Martinsen who was killed when she was struck by a Jeep Tuesday night on Highway 95A. Below, she is pictured at the campus radio station. Photos courtesy WEAR Pensacola and KXMC TV Minot, ND for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Comments
20 Responses to “North Dakota Jogger Hit By Jeep Was Visiting, Volunteering On Spring Break”
Sarah, this is your mom. It is almost Christmas, and almost 9 years later. You are never forgotten. I still love you so much and miss you so much.
Beautiful people are blessings God gives us in our lifetime. God will allow us to see all His children again and He will wipe away all our tears!
I look forward to meeting you Sarah.
Hallo!!
Sarah stayed at my place when she was in Germany.Me and my husband were shoked when we heard the news today. I am still in Shock! She was such a great girl and so shining. Always nice and caring!!
We will miss her!!
Maybe i will give her parents a hug in my SummerbreaK!!
This is so tragic and heartbreaking. One of my best friends was on that trip and was a friend of this girl. It’s just so sad. It just goes to show that we never know when we might be taken and that we should all live life day to day and be thankful for what we do have. We should all live in those moments. My friend told me that Sarah had told her that it was the best day of her life. You will be missed!
This beautiful woman is my best friends sister. She will be dearly missed. I only wish I could be there for her family on these sad days. She was brightness in many people’s lives…including the family she loved.
My daughter was on the bus trip with her. She was devastated, as I am sure the other stlf bus people were. I did not know Sara, but at times I feel a heavy wave of sadness wash over me just thinking of this. This is heartbreaking, for Sara and her family, for the driver and son, and for all the college kids on the bus trip with her. She really touched a HUGE amount of lives, and will be missed by countless numbers of people. This is SO SAD that this had to happen. Such a waste! As heartbreaking as my daughter’s call was to me the night of the accident, I can not even imagine being Sara’s parents. My heart goes out to them.
Sarah’s mother is a good friend of mine from college days. I did not get a chance to know Sarah well as we live across the country from each other these days. I do know that Sarah was one fabulous kid, with an awesome mother. Deb is a very strong person, but she will need all of our prayers and love to get through this. The world is a better place because Sarah was part of it, even for such a tragically short time.
We very often take for granted how easily we can affect someone else’s life. We are so busy in our daily lives and easily distracted by our thoughts and agendas;let’s please take a moment to pay attention to how we can affect others in so many ways negatively or positively. Look out people, wake up, and pay attention. I am guiltly of this as well—we need to be aware of our surroundings.
Sarah’s life was so precious in her own way and those who knew her can forever be touched by her inspiration. Just reading her story I am touched by her character and am saddened by this incident. I will pray for her family and friends as well as the woman and child that has to endure this pain of knowing they played a part in this accident.
My thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends. I pray that God hold them all in His hands. We need more helpful people like her in the world!
yes escambia mom………..you don’t have many kids like her ……….she does sound like she was a neat girl.
My heart goes out for the family. Every time this year that I pass the spot, I will give out a prayer for her mom and dad and family who is grieving over the early departure of a lovely child, who was so full of life and joy. What a heart to be doing work for others, that’s getting rare these days.. Will met you in heaven when its my time
Such a beautiful young lady with so many skills and achievements, this is such a sad thing that has happened to this young girl; and I could not even imagine the state of shock that her parents must be in. I am so sorry for your loss of your daughter, may god give bless this family; my heart, thoughts and prayers go out to her family and friends…
God blesses us each with so many things
And sometimes that blessing is a child.
He chooses a special angel, picked just for you
And loans them to you for awhile.
A Poem for the family and friends
Precious Loan:
From the time they arrive
They hold your heart in their hands
And add countless precious moments to your life
And each night we bow down and ask the good Lord above
To protect them and keep them from strife.
For this oh so precious gift,
God doesn’t ask a large fee.
“Just love and care for them,
and teach them of Me”.
So we do what we can,
We work hard and we pray
And watch them blossom and grow
With each passing day.
Not one of us knows how long they’ll be here
Or when God will call for his loan,
And take that special angel, picked just for you
Back to his glorious home.
But he made us a promise and I have no doubt,
He will carry you through this great sorrow.
Because when it’s your time, she’ll be first to greet you
And you’ll be blessed with an eternity of tomorrows.
My heart aches for her family and makes me cherish the times I get to spend with my own children. Heartache. Life. Let’s honor and celebrate her life by living ours better, for ourselves and for others. STLF; I will strive to follow your lead by considering others’ needs more often than my own. Goodnight, Sweet Sarah.
i hate that the parents of this young girl had to get this phone call………………….now they have to get her back home…………………
What a gorgeous girl, obviously on the inside too. My prayers go out to all those who love her and also to the driver and her family. There are no tears or sadness in heaven, which is where she is, in the arms of her Almighty Father now. May all those involved be able to feel the love and comfort only God can give at a time like this.
She was an amazing person. She has touched many lives and we will all miss her. My heart and prayers go out to the Martinsen family. I love you all.
so very tragic. such ambition and dedication to those around her. may the memory of her always remain and the world will be a better place from the lives she touched while she was with us. My thoughts and prayers go out to this grieving family so far away. words can not provide comfort nor ease the pain. knowing she is in heaven waiting for her loved ones to join her is what i try to think about. you will be missed young one.
A young life cut too short. My prayers go to the family.
My condolences to her family. May God comfort their hearts. As a parent with kids away at school, I can only imagine how difficult this must have been for them. It sounds like she was a neat person.
Man, I feel like crying.