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Riverhead HS grad killed after car crash remembered as a ‘special life’

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A Baiting Hollow woman who crashed into a tree while driving on Edwards Avenue succumbed to her injuries early Monday, Riverhead Town police said.

Brigit Burgio, 23, was driving in a 2004 Kia Optima around 9:20 p.m. Sunday when she sideswiped a parked 2014 Jeep Wrangler and then crashed into a tree on the west side of the road, police said.

Riverhead Fire Department members extricated Ms. Burgio from her vehicle and Suffolk County Police Aviation airlifted her to Stony Brook Medical Center, where she later died, a police source confirmed.

Ms. Burgio was a 2010 Riverhead High School graduate who earned all conference honors as a soccer player in 2008 and 2009 and was named team MVP. She attended Mount Saint Mary College and played for the soccer team there.

Ms. Burgio had worked at Westhampton Beach Learning Center, according to an employee at the school.

Her coach, Frank Martini, called her a “special life” and said her passing was a “tremendous loss to the world.”

“On the field there was nothing she couldn’t do: great skill, vision, determination and a team player,” he said. “Brigit understood the responsibility of being a Mount student-athlete and wore that badge with dignity and pride, winning the respect of her teammates and opponents.”

Mr. Martini said the team was “blessed to have Brigit as part of our family.”

The numbness we now feel will soon be overshadowed by the memories that reside within our hearts,” he said.

Police detectives have not released the cause of the crash. Anyone who witnessed the accident is asked to contact the Riverhead Town Police Department at 631-727-4500.

Visitation at McLaughlin-Heppner Funeral Home will be on Friday, May 27 from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. and from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Saturday. A memorial mass will be held at Saint Isidore R.C. Church on Saturday at 1 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, the Burgio family has asked donations be made to Autism Speaks, an autism awareness group.

Photo caption: Ms. Burgio, in a 2013 senior year photo for Mount Saint Mary College’s soccer team. (Credit: Mount Saint Mary College Knights)