Seatbelts save three Saugus hockey players

SAUGUS – Seatbelts saved the lives of three Saugus High School hockey players who had just left an early-morning practice Friday when they hit a patch of black ice that caused their vehicle to flip over on the Lynn Fells Parkway.”We would have gone through the roof and broke our necks,” said senior Christopher Sanderson as he pondered what may have happened if the three not been wearing seatbelts. He was the driver of the 1997 Jeep Wrangler Sahara at the time of the crash.Sanderson, his freshman brother Nicholas and sophomore James Alcott Jr. left the Kasabuski Ice Arena at 6:30 a.m. after hockey practice. Their plan was the same as any other Friday morning ? just to drive to school, two miles away.Their plan drastically changed at 7:01 a.m. as they traveled westbound at 30 mph.”I hit what looked like a patch of water,” said Christopher Sanderson. What he saw was actually black ice.According to the Saugus police, the ice was created by “a resident draining water into the roadway.””The cause of the accident came from water that was frozen on the road from 332 Lynn Fells Parkway,” said Officer David Belanger in his report.According to 411.com, the residence is occupied by the Moriello and Martinez families.”Three kids could have lost their lives,” said Christopher Sanderson. “It’s not that hard to just pump it into the yard.”He said the jeep instantly started to fishtail as soon as the tires touched the ice. The fishtail caused the vehicle to spin, which in turn, caused it to flip upside down and slide 528 feet before smashing into a guardrail at 263 Lynn Fells Parkway.”It didn’t feel like real life,” said Christopher Sanderson.He said that it was not until the vehicle stopped that he realized they were upside down.”It felt like a NASCAR flip,” said Nicholas Sanderson.Christopher Sanderson said the jeep is probably a total loss with two flat tires, a bent door, an oil leak as well as every window being broken.”That’s just the body, I don’t know what happened to the engine,” he said.The three boys escaped unharmed and were not taken to the hospital.”I was so impressed to hear that those three kids put their seatbelts on,” said James Alcott Sr.Following the crash, Christopher Sanderson said he called his mother to come get them.”I didn’t really give her too many details, I didn’t want to freak her out,” he said.However, he said his mother became emotional when she saw what had happened to her two sons and their friend.The boys’ hockey coach, Jeff Natalucci, was also at the scene.”He was one of the first people to show up,” said Christopher Sanderson.