A 16-year-old teenager, who is an Instagrammer with little fame, has shared a picture of herself bandaged after a serious car accident that took her best friend's life away.
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Jamie Bennett from Marietta, Georgia revealed in her Instagram account about a car crash in Naples, Florida, which she described an accident "change her life forever" since it killed her friend Brooke Rice.
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Jamie detailed the accident in her post. She was with her three friends when their vehicle flipped while one of her friends, Brooke Rice, died in the crash and the other three, including herself, were survived.
"God does these miraculous things that sometimes no one really understands. I’m beyond blessed to be here today. Last night my best friends and l were involved in a very fluke car accident. We were simply just trying to ride down the street with the windows down to get the bugs out of the car. Things happen in a heartbeat. Tell those you love that you love them. Fly high to my angel Brooke. You were such a kind soul. Just earlier that week we had a sleepover all together and went to the beach. Brooke, you are loved and will never be forgotten. Last night l had to try to digest a lot all at once. God spoke through the officer and told me that my life was spared because if we flipped one more time l would’ve been instantly killed because l was ejected from the sunroof. This is going to change me forever. God had a plan. He does everything for a purpose. l wish l could do more. l wish things didn’t have to be like this. Brooke, my beautiful angel, rest easy," the teenager wrote on her account.
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According to media reports, the victim was a 16-year-old girl studying at St. John Neumann High School in North Naples. Police officers are now investigating the case.
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Aryna Sabalenka and Carlos Alcaraz fulfilled expectations on opening night of the Australian Open, the No. 1 seeds advancing in straight sets in a Sunday session that started with tennis royalty Rod Laver and Roger Federer in the crowd.
Rod Laver Arena was heaving for their first-round matches, capping a day when a record total of 100,763 fans packed into Melbourne Park.
The 45-year-old Venus Williams set a record, too, becoming the oldest player ever in the women's singles draw at the Australian Open.
Out on John Cain Arena, the so-called People's Court because it's open to fans with ground passes, Williams was up two service breaks at 4-0 in the third set before Olga Danilovic rallied to win six straight games in a 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4 victory.
The seven-time major winner, playing on a wild-card entry in the singles in just her second major since returning to the tour last year, plans to continue in doubles.
“I’m really proud of my effort today because I’m playing better with each match, getting to the places that I want to get to,” she said. “Right now I’m just going to have to keep going forward and working on myself.”
Sabalenka fended off left-handed wild-card entry Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah, 6-4, 6-1 after dropping the opening service game.
“I didn’t start my best. She showed up. Fired on. She was playing great,” said Sabalenka, who won the Australian title in 2023 and ’24 and was runner-up last year. “It was a tricky start.”
Sabalenka prepared for the first major of the season with a title in Brisbane but was a little more nervous than usual because Laver, the Australian great, and 20-time major winner Federer were watching.
“I’m a huge fan. I wanted to show great tennis so you guys enjoyed watching me play,” she said. “There was definitely a lot of pressure. I was walking, thinking ‘don’t look there, don’t look there!’”
Her next round is against Chinese qualifier Bai Zhuoxuan, who outlasted 2021 French Open runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (10) in a 2-hour, 43-minute match. No. 28 Emma Raducanu, who could potentially meet Sabalenka in the third round, beat Mananchaya Sawangkaew 6-4, 6-1.
Day 1 of a scheduled 15 closed with Alcaraz winning 6-3, 7-6 (2), 6-2 over Adam Walton, beginning his bid to set a record for being the youngest player to complete a career Grand Slam.
Alexander Zverev, runner-up here last year to Jannik Sinner, shrugged off a sluggish start to beat Gabriel Diallo 6-7 (7), 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 to reach the second round at Melbourne Park for the 10th straight year.
“Definitely, when I saw the draw, wasn’t too happy to be honest,” Zverev said of the tricky challenge presented by No. 41-ranked Diallo. “He’s very young, very talented. Unbelievably aggressive.”
No. 10 Alexander Bublik advanced over Jenson Brooksby 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, No. 29 Frances Tiafoe overpowered Jason Kubler 7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-2 and Michael Zheng fended off Sebastian Korda 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (0), 6-3 in an all-American first-rounder.
Zheng, a college star at Columbia who advanced through qualifying to make his tour-level debut, will next face No. 32 Corentin Moutet, who was booed after his underarm serve on match point in a 6-4, 7-6 (1), 6-3 win over Tristan Schoolkate.
Two of the women’s seeds went out in the opening afternoon, with Elsa Jacquemot ousting No. 20 Marta Kostyuk 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4), 7-6 (7) and Turkish qualifier Zeynep Sönmez upsetting No. 11 Ekaterina Alexandrova 7-5, 4-6, 6-4.
Sönmez halted her match briefly in the second set to help a ballkid who appeared to be struggling in the heat before the tournament medical team took over.
Seventh-seeded Jasmine Paolini, No. 12 Elina Svitolina and Maria Sakkari all advanced in straight sets.
Former Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova withdrew because of a shoulder injury before her scheduled first-round match, giving a place in the main draw to Taylor Townsend, the lucky loser from qualifying, to take on Hailey Baptiste.
In a 2 1/2-hour all-American contest on Court 13, Baptiste prevailed 6-3, 6-7 (3), 6-3.
Coco Gauff will open play Monday on Rod Laver Arena against Kamilla Rakhimova. Iga Swiatek and Novak Djokovic have night matches.
Venus Williams of the U.S. plays a backhand return to Olga Danilovic of Serbia during their first round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Carlos Alcaraz of Spain celebrates after defeating Adam Walton of Australia in their first round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus reacts during her first round match against Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah of France at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
Zeynep Sonmez of Turkey and umpire Chase Urban help a ball kid who fainted from the court during her first round match against Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)
Alexander Zverev of Germany waves after defeating Gabriel Diallo of Canada in their first round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
Jasmine Paolini of Italy celebrates after defeating Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus in their first round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus reacts during a press conference ahead of the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Andre Agassi of the United States and Roger Federer of Switzerland play doubles against Lleyton Hewitt and Pat Rafter of Australia during the Opening Ceremony for the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
Venus Williams of the United States plays a backhand return during a practice session ahead of the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Carlos Alcaraz of Spain serves during a practice session ahead of the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
