The people who know 10-year-old Kiedrick Disher and 17-year-old Dashawn Whetstone say they are both just nice kids.

Tracy Meyers, who taught Disher in kindergarten, said she was “shocked” to learn Thursday that he had died in an accident on S.C. Highway 70.

“He was a good student. He enjoyed working with others and had a lot of energy. His mom was very supportive,” Meyers said.

Disher was a rising fifth-grader at Mellichamp Elementary School, according to Orangeburg Consolidated School District 5 spokesman Greg Carson. Principal Beverly Stroman-Spires spent much of Thursday with the child’s family at the residence.

“This child was part of her family, her school family. Her whole thing right now is centered on the family,” Carson said.

“From a school and district standpoint ... our prayers are definitely with this family. This is something that is our greatest fear as a parent. Nobody wants this to happen to anyone,” he said.

Disher and Whetstone, his uncle, were discovered Thursday morning. Whetstone was flown to a hospital.

The 6-foot-5-inch Whetstone, known to friends as “Stringbean,” is called a fun young man who smiles all the time. His coach on the Edisto High School basketball team, Herman Johnson, said the student he’s taught since the fifth grade is a “good kid.”

“We call him Skinny, Stringbean. ... He is a special person who thinks in a witty way,” Johnson said. “He’s a funny kid. We laugh, we clown.”

“Our thoughts and prayers are with him. I wish him the best. I’m praying for him and the family of his nephew,” he said.

Whetstone was entering his senior year at Edisto High School, where he was scheduled to take a range of classes from U.S. history to economics, according to a school schedule found at the accident scene.

Edisto High School Principal Baron Davis said, “He is a good kid and a fun-hearted young man. ... He was easily recognizable by his height. He has a lot of friends and is liked by many people.”

For Whetstone, Davis said “I would tell him to rest well and reserve his energy and strength and follow the doctor’s orders.”

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to each family,” he said.

At Edisto Primary School, teachers who knew the students gathered occasionally in the hall to exchange news of the boys.

Valerie Funchess, whose daughter goes to school with Whetstone, described him as a person who “smiles all the time.”

“I know he was looking forward to his senior year in high school. That’s what they told me at Wal-Mart,” when she saw him there on Saturday, she said. “My heart goes out to the family. It is a tragic situation.”

T&D City Editor Gene Crider can be reached by e-mail at gcrider@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5570. T&D Editor Lee Harter can be reached by e-mail at lharter@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5520. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

You must be logged in to comment.