Cristina Hnatyshyn, animal, dairy and poultry sciences freshman, died Saturday afternoon in a car crash while driving eastbound on I-10. Friends described Hnatyshyn as energetic, an animal lover and a good friend. Her 18th birthday was today. Hnatyshyn’s 2002 Honda CR-V overturned in a ditch after the vehicle crashed into a tree. Louisiana State Police Trooper Johnnie Brown said Hnatyshyn was trapped in the vehicle when it burst into flames. No other vehicles were involved. Rossana Hnatyshyn, Cristina Hnatyshyn’s mother, described her daughter as “very beautiful and very outgoing.” Her mother said Cristina Hnatyshyn, a Mount Carmel Academy graduate, enjoyed partying with her friends and playing soccer in high school. “She loved LSU,” she said. “She loved to meet new people.” She was also responsible, her mother said, coming to her family’s aid in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Rossana Hnatyshyn said her daughter took over the family home when she had to go out of state for work after the storm. Cristina Hnatyshyn took her younger siblings to school, shopped for groceries, cooked meals and continued to do well in her classes. “She was always happy,” Rossana Hnatyshyn said. Ashleigh Tassin, who has been friends with Cristina Hnatyshyn since the third-grade, said everywhere Cristina Hnatyshyn went she knew someone. Cristina Hnatyshyn was studying pre-vet and Tassin, a student at St. Edwards University in Austin, Tex., said Cristina Hnatyshyn’s goal was to help animals, an aspiration she had since childhood. “She loved animals,” Tassin said. “She always wanted to help them.” Cristina Hnatyshyn was a hostess at Serranos Salsa Company’s New Orleans location before she moved to Baton Rouge to attend LSU. “She had been working here since February,” Serranos manager Marisa Lieteau said. “She was very well-liked and very energetic.” Mike Modica, biological engineering freshman, said he met Cristina Hnatyshyn his freshman year at Jesuit High School. “She’s one of the sweetest girls I’ve ever met,” he said. “I’d hang out at her apartment and goof around all the time.” Microbiology freshman Rob Farber said he met Cristina Hnatyshyn in a biology class this past Tuesday and was with her the morning before she died. “She was amazing,” he said. “She was always kind and a good friend for the time that I knew her. Basically, she was a person who knew no strangers.” Farber said he and Cristina Hnatyshyn planned to celebrate her 18th birthday today. “My favorite memory is at least getting the chance to know her and just being around her,” he said. Tassin and other friends of Cristina Hnatyshyn started a Facebook.com event for Hnatyshyn’s memorial service. Tassin said the large number of students who have responded in support of Hnatyshyn’s friends and family is a statement to what type of person she was. Hnatyshyn’s funeral will be held 9:30 a.m. Saturday at St. Mary Magdalen Church in Metairie, and mass will be held at 12:30 p.m.
—–Contact Angelle Barbazon at [email protected]