MacKenzie Maier graduated from Louisiana Tech University in a personal ceremony at Touro, a community-based healthcare hospital in New Orleans, on Friday afternoon. And she did it all just weeks after being in a devastating car crash that left her with spinal cord injuries and more.Maier's crash happened just one day before her original graduation ceremony was scheduled.“It hasn’t been an easy one, by any means, but I’ve made it work. You know, each day you keep pushing and pushing, and I get stronger and stronger, and here I am," Maier said of what her journey has been like.Maier's doctors said her determination and hard work are contributing to her recovery. She has even been able to get in some steps with some assistance. Her goal now is to be able to walk on her own and go on to do her dream job of being a pediatric intensive care unit nurse.“This is what we do it for; it’s for these victories and patients like her, that are so inspired and inspire us, fill our souls too. Makes it very good for us as well," said Susi Folse, Maier's physician.This isn't the first adversity Maier has faced in her life. She also faced and beat a form of brain cancer as a child. She says she isn't done yet either and looks forward to the future.“Eventually, I just want to get back to where I originally had on my plans. Get back to where I can be a PICU nurse and be able to live out my career and hopefully one day travel and just do all the things I would have done if this accident wouldn’t have happened," said Maier.Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy also attended the graduation as the commencement speaker. He says Maier shows the strength of the people of Louisiana.

As The University of Georgia community mourns the loss of a player and staffer killed in an early morning car crash, one fan and his grandson are grateful to have had one of the last interactions with redshirt sophomore Devin Willock. After attending the championship celebration for Georgia's back-to-back national titles Saturday in Athens, Sam Kramer and his 7-year-old grandson Camdyn stopped to eat before heading home to Cartersville."Actually, had just sat down to get ready to order and we noticed kind of a commotion, but we noticed some folks that had started to gather on the left side where we were sitting. As soon as I turned my head and looked, I saw who it was," Kramer told sister station WJCL.It was Willock. And as a lifelong Georgia fan, Kramer knew he had to say hi."I just kinda gave him kind of a fist bump. I said, 'Hey Devin, congrats with everything that's going on.' He turned and saw Camdyn sitting there, and Camdyn was kinda wide-eyed looking at him."After chatting for a bit, Kramer said it was hard for Camdyn not to notice his championship ring. "I remember I just told Camdyn, 'Hey, you've got one. But he's got the real deal.' And so Devin, without even stopping or flinching, took the ring off and gave it to Camdyn and said, 'I'd love to see what you look like in the ring,'" Kramer said.He snapped a few pics of the encounter and posted them to Twitter. Willock saw it and retweeted it with three red hearts – his final tweet. Then, hours later, tragedy struck.Athens-Clarke County Police said it was just before 3 a.m. Sunday that the SUV he was a passenger in slammed into two power poles and trees before crashing into an apartment. That accident killed Willock and the driver, football staffer Chandler LeCroy. The Athens Banner-Herald reports star offensive tackle Warren McClendon was also in the car. He has minor injuries while another passenger is in serious condition. "My heart is broken for them," Kramer said of Willock's family. "I just want you to know that you raised an outstanding young man and he will be missed."

, Pa. —

The last of the escaped monkeys from the crash of a truck towing a trailer load of 100 of the animals was accounted for by late Saturday, a day after the pickup collided with a dump truck on a Pennsylvania highway, authorities said.

Several monkeys had escaped following Friday’s collision, Pennsylvania State Police said. But only one had remained unaccounted for as of Saturday morning, prompting the Pennsylvania Game Commission and other agencies to launch a search for it amid frigid weather.

Kristen Nordlund, a spokesperson with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in an email Saturday evening that all 100 of the cynomolgus macaque monkeys had since been accounted for. Three were dead after being euthanized.

The email did not elaborate on why the three were euthanized or how all came to be accounted for. But Nordlund said those euthanized were done so humanely according to American Veterinary Medical Association guidelines.

The shipment of monkeys was en route to a CDC-approved quarantine facility after arriving Friday morning at New York’s Kennedy Airport from Mauritius, an Indian Ocean island nation, police said. The Atlanta-based CDC said the agency was providing “technical assistance” to state police in Pennsylvania.

The collision occured Friday on a state highway near an Interstate 80 exit in Pennsylvania’s Montour County, Trooper Andrea Pelachick told The Daily Item newspaper of Sunbury.

The location of the quarantine facility and the type of research for which the monkeys were apparently destined weren’t clear, but cynomolgus monkeys are often used in medical studies. A 2015 paper posted on the website of the National Center for Biotechnology Information referred to them as the most widely used primate in preclinical toxicology studies.

Earlier, police had earlier urged people not to look for or capture any monkey, with troopers tweeting: “Anyone who sees or locates the monkey is asked not to approach, attempt to catch, or come in contact with the monkey. Please call 911 immediately.”

Trooper Lauren Lesher had said the concern was “due to it not being a domesticated animal and them being in an unknown territory. It is hard to say how they would react to a human approaching them.”

Lesher said state police secured the scene for the Pennsylvania Department of Health and the CDC.

The drivers of the trucks weren’t harmed and a passenger was transported to a medical center for treatment of suspected minor injuries, according to the state police’s crash report.

A crash witness, Michelle Fallon, told the Press Enterprise newspaper of Bloomsburg that she spoke with the pickup driver and a passenger after the crash. The driver appeared to be disoriented, and the passenger thought he might have injured his legs, she said.

Crates littered the road Friday as troopers searched for monkeys, rifles in hand. Valley Township firefighters used thermal imaging to try to locate the animals, and a helicopter also assisted, the Press Enterprise newspaper of Bloomsburg reported.

The pickup was heading west on I-80 when it got off at the Danville exit and then immediately tried to get back on, driving across the other lane, the newspaper reported.

Fallon told the Press Enterprise that she was behind the pickup when it was hit on the passenger side by the dump truck, tearing off the front panel of the trailer and sending more than a dozen crates tumbling out.

She and another motorist who stopped to help were standing near the scene when the other driver said he thought he saw a cat run across the road, Fallon said.

Fallon peeked into a crate and saw a small monkey looking back at her, she told the newspaper.

“They’re monkeys,” she told the other motorist.

A North Carolina community is heartbroken after a police trooper died in a tragic car crash Monday night.

Trooper John Horton was pronounced dead at a Spartanburg hospital after suffering injuries in a crash involving a police cruiser driven by his brother, Trooper James Horton.

A motorcyclist that John Horton had pulled over also died in the collision.

"He's one of the greatest men I ever met," said James Lovelace, a family friend of the Hortons.

Lovelace arrived on the scene after hearing the crash just outside his home in Rutherford County.

"I knew just as soon as I seen him who it was," Lovelace said. "He's gone. All his kids. His wife. Why couldn't they have picked somebody else?"

Some in the area came by Tuesday to place markers at the scene. Others came by to pay their respects to the men who died there.

Friends say James Horton — who goes by Nick — was inspired to go into law enforcement because of his older brother's dedication.

"It's probably like a bad dream to him this morning. Like a bad dream you just can't get out of," family friend Anthony Smith said.

Colonel Freddy L. Johnson Jr., the commander of the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, released a statement honoring the fallen trooper.

"Our hearts are broken with the loss of our friend and our brother, Trooper John Horton. For all involved in this tragic event the coming days will undoubtedly be difficult, but we are committed to stand alongside with them with our thoughts, prayers, and unwavering support," Johnson's statement read.

Back the Blue NC told CNN that the organization started a GoFundMe to assist the family with funeral costs.

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right now at four a Montgomery county woman was killed after a car crash in Loudon County last night. The driver Washington football team safety and special teams. Everette box sides, David Kaplan joining us live at the scene of that crash for us tonight. David, What do police say happened? Well, the Loudoun County Sheriff's office says that he was driving at about nine o'clock last night. This is gum spring road douches er Everette police say lost control right about here. The car flipped and came to rest right here. Now we want to talk about the person who died. Take a look at your screen right now, This is 29 year old Olivia Peters. Her family shared these photos with us. She was a Montgomery County native. Her family says she was an occupational therapist who dedicated her life to helping Children in need. Her family called her brilliant and beautiful and says at 29 she started practices in Nevada and New York City dishes or Everette We're told was taken to an area hospital. We're told he suffered serious injuries that are non life threatening. The Washington football team issued a statement saying their thoughts are with the families of all involved adding that they're working with the NFL as they gather more information. Head coach Ron Rivera said this after the Washington football team's practice today. The only thing I want to say is that, you know, it's very sad to hear the news. Um, my thoughts and prayers go out to the family of, of the young lady and um, and I always thought the Shays and his family as well. So it's a very difficult situation and you know, we'll just let that we'll let things go on and and let the uh, you know, let the police and the investigation go throughout and find out what happened. And as for that investigation, Loudon County Police not saying much about what led to this crash. They say this is very much an active and ongoing investigation. If we learned anything throughout our news, we'll be sure to pass that along to you guys.

Washington Football Team player Deshazor Everett is being treated for "serious but non-life-threatening injuries" after he was involved in a fatal crash Thursday in Loudoun County, Virginia, according to the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office.Everett was behind the wheel of a 2010 Nissan GT-R when the vehicle left the road, slamming into several trees before rolling over, the sheriff's office said in a statement.Passenger Olivia Peters, 29, died of her injuries at the hospital, according to the sheriff's office.The crash remains under investigation, according to Loudoun County Sheriff's Office Public Information Officer Michele Bowman."Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone who has been affected by this tragedy," Washington Football Team said in a statement posted to Twitter, adding that the team is working with local authorities "to gather more information."The 29-year-old Everett has played for the Washington Football Team since 2015.

Washington Football Team player Deshazor Everett is being treated for "serious but non-life-threatening injuries" after he was involved in a fatal crash Thursday in Loudoun County, Virginia, according to the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office.

Everett was behind the wheel of a 2010 Nissan GT-R when the vehicle left the road, slamming into several trees before rolling over, the sheriff's office said in a statement.

Passenger Olivia Peters, 29, died of her injuries at the hospital, according to the sheriff's office.

The crash remains under investigation, according to Loudoun County Sheriff's Office Public Information Officer Michele Bowman.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone who has been affected by this tragedy," Washington Football Team said in a statement posted to Twitter, adding that the team is working with local authorities "to gather more information."

The 29-year-old Everett has played for the Washington Football Team since 2015.