Friends remembering Arcadia teen killed by electrocution after crash

Family and friends remember a teen who was electrocuted right after surviving a car crash in Arcadia over the weekend.

The teen who died was 17-year-old Bryan Sanchez.

The 911 call after the crash started almost softly. Sanchez’s girlfriend called to report the crash after his car went into an electricity pole on SW Robin Road in DeSoto County.

“A guy was speeding, and he hit an electric post,” Sanchez’s girlfriend told the 911 operator.

Sanchez’s girlfriend was on the phone with 911 when she watched him get out of the car, step on a live wire, and die instantly by electrocution. On the 911 call, she can be heard screaming.

“He was one of a kind,” said Saul Vazquez, a mentor with the DeSoto County Youth Soccer Federation.

For Vazquez, talking about Sanchez’s death is too hard, so instead, WINK News spoke to him about Sanchez’s life, his love for people and his love for soccer.

“I knew Bryan since he was little,” said Vazquez. “He had the same passion and dedication not only with the sport but with the kids. He was the type of kid that if he saw one of his kids struggling with something, he would take the time the extra time to explain to the kid how to play the sport.”

At 17-years-old Sanchez coached youth soccer, went to high school and had a job.

One of his classmates came by the memorial set up for him at the site of the crash on Tuesday, something she’s done every day since the crash. She put on her headphones and listened to his playlist.

Through tears, she said he was the best kind of person, and she’ll miss him next year when their class graduates.

On Saturday, his soccer league is hosting a fundraiser at the Tractor Supply on Turner Ave to help his family with the funeral costs.