Baseball Players Remember Good Samaritan Killed In I-40 Auto Crash

Friends and loved ones are remembering the good Samaritans killed in a crash Friday night on Interstate 40.

They described both 23-year-old athletic trainer Kaylee Hamilton and 43-year-old elementary school principal David Vallerand as selfless individuals. They died trying to help a stranger.

Affectionately known as Coach V,  Vallerand was not only a school administrator. He also spent his free time going on mission trips, volunteering for the Special Olympics and coaching youth baseball with the OKC Ambassadors. His former players are now relying on each other for support.

Tears flowed freely Saturday afternoon at Henderson Hills Baptist Church, but they were followed by the sounds of laughter.

Dozens told happy stories remembering Coach V. Vallerand, along with Hamilton and another passerby, had stopped to help the victim of a rollover crash on the slick highway in Yukon when another car flipped in the same spot, killing both Vallerand and Hamilton.

“When I heard that, I said that’s exactly what V would be doing,” said Adrian Savedra, executive director of the Ambassadors and close friend to Vallerand. “That’s not the first time he’s stopped to help anybody. He’s stopped to help people countless times.”

Vallerand used his platform as a coach and educator to spread the word of God and set a positive example, always reminding his players to be humble and put others first.

“You have to know you’re the best, so it’s a struggle with humility in that sense of working for the Lord because He gave you those gifts,” said Jake Disney, who played with the Ambassadors in the summers of 2011 and 2012.

Tragedy is not new for the Ambassadors.

The team formed following the untimely death of Justin Sullivan in 2002, who was killed in a crash the day after he was named Baseball Player of the Year. They call themselves “ambassadors for Christ” and old friends are banding together once more.

“Something like this, it’s great to have a brotherhood that you can lean on and hurt together,” Disney said. 

“I’m going to miss him dearly, but I know where he’s at. I know one day I’ll see him, but there’s a void just left on this planet without him," Savedra said.

Vallerand is also leaving behind the students at Okarche Elementary School, where he was the principal. In a recent school video, he noted how much he loved the supportive community there.