 Dr. Madaline Youmans
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 Dr. Youmans among friends
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Associate professor in the English Department, Dr. Madeleine Youmans, died in the Huntsville Hospital last weekend as a result of fatal head injures received from a car wreck on interstate I-565 on Friday night, April 9. Madeleine's dramatic and sudden death has shocked her family, friends, and a vast number of students and faculty who normally worked and interacted with her in a number of activities she was involved at UAH in the last few years.
The accident, where the 42 year-old Dr. Youmans lost her life, was actually a consequence of a previous accident that also occurred on I-565 a couple of hours before. Around 7:30 p.m. Friday night, three police officers and a Madison County Sheriff's deputy chased a 2005 rented Lincoln occupied by two men suspected of being drug dealers from Triana Boulevard up to the interstate. The car took the Madison exit and after a few seconds of slowing down its speed, it turned around and headed into on-coming traffic on I-565 West instead of quitting the runaway as police expected. Shortly after that the Lincoln frontally crashed into a Chevy Tahoe driven by a woman. She suffered non life-threatening injuries, while the passenger of the Lincoln died upon impact and the driver went to the hospital in critical condition.
As a consequence of the accident, the I-565 West became a traffic jam and circulation could not be entirely normalized by the time Madeleine Youmans drove back home around 9 p.m. The traffic was not fluent and drivers had to slow down continuously. The car driven by Madeleine was smashed from its rear by a big SUV coming behind her at high speed. Dr. Youmans was entrapped in her car and the Huntsville Emergency Medical Services (HEMSI) needed considerable time to take her out. She lost consciousness moments after the impact. One of her lungs had collapsed and the T-4 thoracic vertebra was also broken. She also suffered a strong concussion to her head. As a consequence, her brain started swelling and that irreversibly affected vital functions such as movement, cognition, and verbalization. On Saturday morning, her brain showed a very low level.
According to the police report, a 19 year-old driver and another person who was 13 years-old were traveling in the SUV when they hit Youmans' car. The youngest had to be transferred to the hospital. The driver of the SUV is not going to be charged with any crime, though on Monday afternoon it was not clear if charges will be placed against the Lincoln's driver, who remains in the hospital.
Dr. Madeleine Youmans was born in Washington State and raised in Seattle. She finished her bachelor, BA, at Cornell University and obtained a MA and a PhD from the University of Southern California. She joined UAH in 1997 and was currently an associate professor in the English Department. She was well-known and beloved by foreign students, since she taught several ESL courses and particularly because she was fully involved in the International Cultural Organization, being the advisor of this group since its foundation four years ago. She worked also as a president of the UAH Woman's Club in 2004 and next to Dr. Lillian Joyce in preparing the North Alabama Society of The American Institute of Archaeology lectures at our university. She was in charge of the TESOL examinations at UAH (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages).
During this week, celebrations are being held in her memory. On Tuesday, ICO officers hosted a bunch of performances by friends of Madeleine, including dances and songs in her honor. These kinds of events Dr. Youmans and her close friend, Darren, enjoyed the most during her time at UAH. During the last few months, Madeleine and the ICO worked hard to get Laura Fuentes Calicanto here. The singer eventually performed at UAH on Wednesday and this occasion was also favorable to honor Madeleine. Starting at 7.50 pm at UC, she received silence homage before the concert and a candlelight memorial after it.
The formal reception is to be held today, Thursday, the 14, at Bellville Center lobby. Madeleine's mother and sister, who flew from Washington and California respectively, last Saturday, will be present at the ceremony. It will start at 5.30 p.m. The College of Liberal Arts and Dr. Madeleine Youmans' family and friends hope everyone can come in the spirit of celebrating her life. Finally, on Friday, April 15, the ICO is sponsoring a luncheon in Madeleine's memory on the second floor of the library from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. For updated information on those events, please contact to Mital Modi, ICO President, at 256-652-4226.
Keep Dr. Youmans' family and friends in prayers during these difficult moments and keep Madeleine in our memories always. Madeleine Youmans, Rest In Peace.
