91³Ô¹ÏÍø

Watch CBS News
Wisconsin News

Family remembers 8-year-old Owen Hailey, killed in Wisconsin crash: "He was the life of everything"

By
Frankie McLister
Frankie McLister
Reporter
Frankie McLister, originally from Middletown, Maryland, holds bachelor's and master's degrees from Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism.
Read Full Bio
Frankie McLister

/ CBS Minnesota

A heartbroken family is remembering their 8-year-old boy who died in a western Wisconsin car crash in December.

Owen Hailey was the second oldest of four siblings and was known to be everyone's best bud.

"We miss him every second of every day," said Joe Hailey, Owen Hailey's father. "It feels like it was just yesterday that we lost him, and it feels like a lifetime since we've been with him."

His mother says on Dec. 9 she picked him up from school to take him to his orthodontist appointment when they hit a patch of ice.

"I lost control of the car," said Alisha Hailey. "We spun out one way and as I attempted to correct the car, it spun out the other way and went into oncoming traffic."

They were hit and both were rushed to the emergency room. Owen Hailey later died.

"He was the life of everything. He squeezed every ounce of joy from every opportunity he could," his parents said.

His legacy is inspiring the Haileys to live their life in his honor while raising his other siblings—  Liam, Jada and Lincoln. 

The Haileys say that support from the New Richmond Youth Hockey Association, the Minnesota Wild and the Chicago Blackhawks is helping them get by.

"It's the only way we get to be sitting here having this conversation, is the support," said Joe Hailey. "Or we'd be hiding in a dark hole, hurting."

The Hailey's say they wish they could tell their son how much they love him, one more time.

The family would like to thank the following for their support:

  • Lift Bridge Yoga and Fitness community
  • NRYHA
  • Starr Elementary Staff
  • St. Mary's Staff
  • Prohybrid hockey
  • SOV Church staff and community
  • Short dance staff and community
  • Moore Imprints
  • Designer Logo and Embroidery
  • Hubbard Broadcasting
  • SCOH Beck
  • Surrounding hockey communities near and far
  • Minnesota Wild team and staff
  • Chicago Blackhawks team
  • Bakken Young
  • NR Emergency Services
  • Westfield ER
  • Regions ER
  • Children's Gillette
  • Halos of the St. Croix Valley
  • Rollout construction industries
  • GoFundMe donations
  • MealTrain donations
  • Ashley Foster Photography
  • NPDP
  • Callista Hessler
  • St. Croix County dispatch
  • Family, friends and the entire NR community

In:

© 2026 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
const link = doc.createElement('link'); link.rel = 'stylesheet'; link.href = '/fly/fly/bundles/cbsnewscontent/css/cmp-banner.min.css?v=296763317a51cab90faa73f1bb146d5c'; doc.head.appendChild(link); doc.body.innerHTML = CONSENT_MESSAGE; } else { el.insertAdjacentHTML('afterend', CONSENT_MESSAGE); } }); } function hidePrivacyMessage() { // Remove from the main document document.querySelectorAll(`.${CONSENT_MESSAGE_CLASS}`).forEach(el => el.remove()); // Remove from inside any iframes document.querySelectorAll('iframe').forEach(iframe => { const doc = iframe.contentDocument || iframe.contentWindow.document; doc.querySelectorAll(`.${CONSENT_MESSAGE_CLASS}`).forEach(el => el.remove()); }); } function activateGatedScripts() { // Handle both new format (cmp-gated-script) and old OneTrust/Ketch format (optanon-category-4) const gatedScripts = Array.from(document.querySelectorAll('script.cmp-gated-script, script.optanon-category-4')); // Activate scripts sequentially with a small delay to avoid timing issues let delay = 0; gatedScripts.forEach(function(placeholder, index) { setTimeout(function() { // Skip if already processed if (placeholder.hasAttribute('data-cmp-processed')) { return; } placeholder.setAttribute('data-cmp-processed', 'true'); const newScript = document.createElement('script'); newScript.type = 'text/javascript'; // Try new format first (data-cmp-src), then fall back to old format (data-src) const src = placeholder.getAttribute('data-cmp-src') || placeholder.getAttribute('data-src'); if (src) { newScript.src = src; } else if (placeholder.textContent) { // Inline script - just copy the content newScript.textContent = placeholder.textContent; } // Handle new format attributes (data-cmp-attrs) - for both inline and external scripts const attrs = placeholder.getAttribute('data-cmp-attrs'); if (attrs) { const tempDiv = document.createElement('div'); tempDiv.innerHTML = '
<\/div>'; const tempAttrs = tempDiv.firstChild.attributes; for (let i = 0; i < tempAttrs.length; i++) { // For external scripts, allow defer/async. For inline scripts, skip them (not valid) if (src || (tempAttrs[i].name !== 'async' && tempAttrs[i].name !== 'defer')) { newScript.setAttribute(tempAttrs[i].name, tempAttrs[i].value); } } } // Copy other attributes from old OneTrust format for (let i = 0; i < placeholder.attributes.length; i++) { const attr = placeholder.attributes[i]; // Skip attributes we've already handled or don't want to copy if (!['class', 'data-src', 'data-type', 'data-cmp-src', 'data-cmp-attrs', 'data-cmp-processed', 'type', 'async', 'defer', 'src'].includes(attr.name)) { newScript.setAttribute(attr.name, attr.value); } } placeholder.parentNode.replaceChild(newScript, placeholder); // If external script, manually trigger window.onload handlers after it loads // This handles widgets that use window.onload for initialization if (src) { newScript.addEventListener('load', function() { // If page already loaded and script set a new onload handler, trigger it if (document.readyState === 'complete' && window.onload) { const originalOnload = window.onload; window.onload = null; // Clear temporarily to prevent loops originalOnload(); // Execute the handler } }); } }, delay); delay += 500; // 500ms delay between each script to allow full loading }); } cbsoptanon.onScriptsReady(function(cmp) { cmp.ot.targetingAllowed(function(allowed) { if (!allowed) { showPrivacyMessage(); } else { activateGatedScripts(); } }); cmp.ot.awaitInitialConsent(function(consent_model) { cmp.ot.addOnConsentChangedHandler(function() { cmp.ot.targetingAllowed(function(allowed) { if (allowed) { hidePrivacyMessage(); activateGatedScripts(); } else { showPrivacyMessage(); } }); }); }); });