Friends share memories of SPU student killed in crane collapse

SEATTLE — Friends of 19-year-old Sarah Wong shared their memories of her Monday after she was killed in the crane collapse in South Lake Union this weekend.

Wong was a freshman at Seattle Pacific University and friends and fellow students described her as a joyful person who was always ready to say hello and flash a big smile.

“She just has that ability to make people -- if you're sad or you're having a bad day, she makes you feel like you're not alone,” Audrey Hong said.

“I really think she was so full of joy,” Alonso Ramirez-Sanchez said. He described Wong as a devoted friend and a person with a zest for life.

“Her personality was so charismatic,” Hong said. “If you didn't get along with her, it was, like, OK, maybe check yourself, maybe something's not right. Sarah was one of the nicest people I think I’ve ever met."

Hong grew up with Wong in the Pasadena area and remembers her drawing and bouncing around the house doing gymnastics.

“So whether we were talking or eating or playing, she was just doing flips on those bars,” she said.

So it was unbelievable on Saturday when a friend told Hong that her friend had died. A crane tumbled from the Google building under construction down to Mercer Street.

“It was honestly just like, I can’t even describe,” she said. “It was like horrible.”

Ramirez-Sanchez and Janessa Fong found out together.

“We prayed we just brought ourselves back into community even though a part of us has been ripped out,” Ramirez-Sanchez said.

The crane hit the car Sarah Wong was in and five other vehicles.

“I am giving up my whole entire heart to her parents and her little brother and just like her whole family,” Hong said. “I can't imagine finding that out-- and then being on a plane knowing what your destination is going to be. I can't imagine that.”

In the same vehicle with Wong was another SPU student named Brittany who managed to escape without injuries. SPU is not releasing much information on her, but students said she was being supported by friends as she dealt with the trauma.

“Brittany is -- you know, shaken up understandably,” Ramirez-Sanchez said. “She's with people right now. She’s doing OK right now… she’s not alone.”

Hong said the SPU community will get through the tragedy together. They have already learned so much from Sarah Wong, in the midst of such heart-wrenching loss.

“People like that don’t always come around,” Janessa Fong said, “and I think it's important to cherish people that you see like that. We really don’t know our time stamp. We don’t know when our last day is going to be.”

“She would have wanted us to mourn her and be strong, but also, never take people that you meet for granted,” Hong said.

Friends said Wong danced as part of PICCA, the Pacific Islanders Club of Cultural Arts at SPU, and that she was going to perform in a luau next week. They're going to remember her in a song and dance.

SPU also plans to hold a special event to honor her memory later this week.

A statement from the family of Sarah Wong:

We want to thank the communities of Seattle, Washington, and South Pasadena and San Marino, California, and beyond for the tremendous outpouring of love and support we have received in honor of our daughter, Sarah Pantip Wong. Known by many as Sarah and by her family and many others as Pantip, we acknowledge the impact she has had on the people God has placed in her life path. As we continue to celebrate her life and mourn our loss, we are comforted by our faith, the faith communities in the Seattle and the Los Angeles areas, and Sarah Pantip's wonderful community of friends. We understand your requests to learn more about our Pantip; however, we request privacy and are not providing interviews to the media at this time.”

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