An 18-year-old magnificence pageant queen who overcame childhood struggles together with homelessness and an abusive mom was killed in a automotive crash with a tractor-trailer in Florida.
Kadance Fredericksen, a former winner of the Miss Okaloosa County Teen USA title, was driving Monday on Freeway 4 when she collided head-on with a tractor-trailer, based on Florida Freeway Patrol. The reason for the crash continues to be below investigation, and the tractor-trailer driver — who suffered minor accidents — was not arrested.
Fredericksen, of Baker, Florida, had lately acquired a $40,000 faculty scholarship, she introduced in her last Instagram publish on Feb. 7.
“I’m extremely grateful to be chosen as a recipient of this 12 months’s Ellison McCraney Ingram Basis $40,000 Scholarship,” she wrote. “This beneficiant assist will assist form my future and produce me one step nearer to reaching my goals. Thanks to the Ingram household, the muse, and everybody concerned for this superb honor!”
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Kadance Fredericksen was killed in a automotive crash with a tractor-trailer in Florida. (Instagram/@kadancefred)
Fredericksen based Kada’s Promise, a charity initiative that collected 12,000 teddy bears and blankets that had been then distributed to kids affected by abuse or trauma.
As a baby, Fredericksen struggled with homelessness, starvation and abuse earlier than her father and stepmother — who later adopted her — gained custody. She mentioned she had been abused and uncared for by her organic mom and stepfather, together with being groomed by her stepfather.
“Throughout many darkish occasions in my early childhood, the one factor that I may name my very own or that made me really feel secure was a single teddy bear that I acquired as a present,” she wrote on the Kada’s Promise web site. “I carried him with me from home to accommodate, sofa to sofa and clutched him tightly within the scariest occasions. It’s from these recollections that Kada’s Promise was born.”
Along with successful the wonder pageant title for her dwelling county, Fredericksen additionally gained Little Miss Northwest Florida in 2017 and represented her county on the Miss Florida Teen USA pageant final 12 months.
Kadance Fredericksen is a former winner of the Miss Okaloosa County Teen USA title who additionally participated in different pageants. (Instagram/@kadancefred)
She used her pageantry platform to boost $25,000 for the Ronald McDonald Home, which seeks to supply short-term housing for households with a baby receiving medical remedy for most cancers or different ailments.
Fredericksen was a senior at Baker College, the place she was anticipating to graduate within the subsequent few months earlier than the tragic accident reduce her life brief.
“It’s with profound unhappiness that we mourn the tragic lack of Kadance Fredericksen, an distinctive younger girl, senior at Baker College, and founding father of ‘Kada’s Promise,'” the varsity wrote on Fb. “Our hearts exit to her household, mates, and all those that knew and beloved her. We additionally provide our deepest condolences to the scholars, workers, college, and the complete Baker Group as we come collectively in grief throughout this extremely tough time.”
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Kadance Fredericksen was a senior at Baker College in Florida. (Baker College)
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“Kadance was a beacon of sunshine in our neighborhood, recognized for her compassion, tireless advocacy for youngsters in want, and unwavering dedication to creating a distinction,” the publish continued. “By her efforts with Kada’s Promise, she introduced hope and luxury to 1000’s of kids experiencing trauma, gathering and distributing over 12,000 teddy bears and blankets to kids in want. Her work impressed us all, and her legacy will reside on within the numerous lives she touched.”
A candlelight vigil will likely be held on the faculty on Wednesday night time.
