Family and friends are grieving an 18-year-old from Newton Grove who died in a wreck near Mount Olive Saturday morning.
Damien Wooldridge died around 8:20 a.m. when his car and a tractor-trailer collided, according to the North Carolina State Highway Patrol.
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The crash happened near the intersection of N.C. Highway 55 and Pineview Cemetery Road. Troopers said Wooldridge was on his way to work.
Wooldridge was heading east on NC-55 when troopers say he lost control of his car, overcorrected and slid into the path of an oncoming tractor-trailer.
The truck drove over the car, splitting it in half.
Troopers said the tractor-trailer caught fire and was destroyed, but the driver was not injured and will not be charged.
The highway was shut down for a few hours Saturday morning.
Wooldridge played football for Hobbton High School last year.
According to his girlfriend Brittany's grandmother, the two planned to marry soon and he planned to join the Navy in March.
"He was loved. God, this family loved him. And Brittany, bless her heart, she loved him with all her heart," Mary Ann Oreshack said.
Oreshack said she made the two dinner Friday night.
"Oh he was fun to be around," she said. "Fun to talk to and just look at. Cute as a button."
"If I knew that was the last time I would see that baby, I think I would have hugged him and never let go."
Wooldridge is among the more than 1,000 people killed on North Carolina roads in 2017.
