Trainers were heading to convention at time of crash

By DAVID LOPEZ
Special to the NEWS

The San Benito CISD community lost two of its members last Friday morning after athletic trainers Robert Garza and Raul Ramos, both 32 years old, were tragically killed in an auto collision.

At about 7:30 a.m., a delivery truck traveling northbound struck the car in which Garza and Ramos were traveling as the two men tried to make a U-turn on the 27000 block of State Highway 345, police reports stated.

According to SBCISD Public Relations Director Isabel Gonzalez, Garza, from Harlingen, and Ramos, from Weslaco, were scheduled to attend the 2022 South Padre Athletic Training Seminar (SPATS) at the South Padre Island Convention Center that Friday morning.

Garza served as the athletic trainer at San Benito High School, and Ramos served in the same capacity at San Benito Veterans Memorial Academy.

Garza began working with the district on July 31, 2018, and Gomez a day later on August 1, 2018.

In honor of Robert Garza and Raul Ramos, the San Benito Athletic Department will be creating a memorial scholarship fund to benefit a student trainer or athlete that will be pursuing a career in sports medicine.

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