CBS 19 - The Eye of East Texas News - Parents of Bonfire victim honor the memory of their daughter

Parents of Bonfire victim honor the memory of their daughter

By Lisa Spooner

HENDERSON, TX (KYTX) - Ten years ago, 12 students died and 27 others were hurt when the Aggie Bonfire they were constructing collapsed.

At 2:42 this morning, the exact moment the structure fell, the Aggie family gathered on the Texas A&M campus for a candlelight vigil to remember those who died.

One of the 12 victims who died was Henderson native, Jamie Hand.

Ten years ago, 11 Texas A&M students and one recent graduate were killed when the Bonfire structure they were working on collapsed.  27 other students were injured.

Those who lost loved ones say, it's a day they remember like it was yesterday.

"She loved life.  She loved people.  She was very compassionate."  Neva Hand is talking about her daughter, Jamie.  A freshman at Texas A&M University in 1999, Jamie worked on the Aggie Bonfire.

"She would email me almost every day.  What her dreams were about being a leader for Bonfire the next year," said Jamie's mom.

But, on the morning of November 18th, life would change for the hand family. 

"I had the radio on.  And it announced Bonfire had fallen and there were 3 deaths that they could confirm at that time.  And my heart just sank," said Larry, Jamie's dad.

When they arrived in College Station, the Hands searched the hospitals.

Neva explained emotionally, "I saw her countless times.  You know, I'd see her ponytail.  I'd see her hat. But Jamie wasn't there.  I didn't give up hope 'til they told us that they had found her. "

The Hand Family now had to identify their beloved Jamie.

Neva said emotionally, "And I asked her, 'What does she look like?  I Anna know.  Would you please go look?'  I didn't want our last memory of our daughter to be something that was so horrible."

A decade has passed, and the Hands often go to the place where they feel closest to Jamie.

"We have season tickets to the Aggie home games.  And we go every game and we park in the parking lot by the memorial," said Larry.

Neva said, "You don't ever get over it.  But, you get stronger.  You learn to live with it." 

There is a scholarship set up at Jamie's alma mater, Henderson High School, that sends one area student to follow in Jamie's footsteps at Texas A&M. 

Twelve scholarships at A&M were set up in honor of the fallen Aggies, along with one honoring those that were injured 10 years ago.

In October 2008, Texas A&M University, a college Bonfire committee and a dozen Aggie administrators agreed to pay more than $2 million to four families of students killed and three others injured in the 1999 Bonfire stack collapse. 

The Hands were not part of that settlement.  They didn't want to sue because they said it wouldn't have brought their daughter back.