Middlebury College Coach Emily McNamara Dies Months After Surviving Severe Car Crash

Emily McNamara, the assistant women's hockey coach at Middlebury College in Vermont, has died, the college's athletics department announced Friday. McNamara, 42, had been recovering from serious injuries sustained in a car accident in March.

McNamara's SUV collided with a tractor-trailer during an ice storm on March 20, leaving her with multiple life-threatening injuries. According to a GoFundMe page established to support her recovery, she suffered fractures to her face, clavicle, neck, ribs, and pelvis, as well as a traumatic brain injury.

In September, McNamara was moved to hospice care. Her husband, David Campbell, who also coaches lacrosse at Middlebury, shared an update on her health, noting she had begun to experience an "imbalance in nervous system responses" as her brain injury healed. However, an infection then took hold, leading to pneumonia and increased agitation.

Middlebury Athletics released a statement expressing sorrow and offering support to McNamara's family, colleagues, and team members. The department remembered McNamara as a former hockey star who won three national titles during her time playing for Middlebury.

She previously served as an assistant coach at Middlebury from 2007 to 2011, then coached the Mid-Fairfield Connecticut Stars, and later led the Hamilton College women's hockey team before returning to Middlebury in the summer of 2023. Hamilton College also issued a statement, stating that "Coach Mac’s legacy lives on in every player she coached and every life she touched along the way."

Funeral arrangements have not yet been announced.