LAPLACE — Every so often, Brandon Prudhomme of LaPlace catches a sight or smell that calls back memories of a time when all of his friends were happy and laughing beside him.

Prudhomme is the sole survivor of a devastating boat wreck that shook the community and claimed the lives of five River Region men on Aug. 9, 2008.

Ken Horzelski, 22; Joshua McNulty, 20; Patrick McTopy Jr., 23; all of LaPlace; Stanley Borne Jr., 22, of Reserve; and Chance Millet, 25, of Lutcher, were riding in a 20-foot runabout boat on Blind River with Prudhomme, 21, at the time.

While approaching a bend in the river, the boat collided head-on with a 30-foot cabin cruiser. Witnesses on scene reported both pilots attempted to maneuver the boats to avoid the crash. Two cabin cruiser passengers sustained minor injuries.

Ten years later, Prudhomme said recovery is a difficult process with a traumatic brain injury hindering his memory and PTSD that comes with staggering survivor’s guilt.

He has no recollection of the collision, but distinctly remembers how inseparable he and his friends were in the years before.

“I have good days and bad days,” Prudhomme said.

“On bad days, I can’t stop thinking about why I survived and they didn’t. I don’t understand it. I just miss them and wish I could have one more conversation with them all.”

On good days, a fond memory will make him smile for hours.

“Love your family and keep your loved ones close,” Prudhomme said. “In the blink of an eye, they can be gone.”

Following the wreck, family and friends recounted memories of each young man, sharing stories of character and integrity.

McTopy was a friendly young man with a contagious smile who loved to party.

He managed properties alongside his father, former St. John Parish chief administrative assistant Pat McTopy Sr., and looked forward to taking over the business.

Prudhomme said McTopy was his cousin but more like a brother, always willing to help him through life’s battles.

Borne was remembered for his genuine friendship and giving attitude. He was a carefree guy, according to friends, who showed a serious side with work at DuPont.

According to Prudhomme, he and McNulty were the best goofballs one could hope to meet.

McNulty had a casual style, characterized by white flip-flops he wore most days. His Chevrolet Avalanche with 24-inch rims was his prized possession, and his memorial is appropriately located across the highway from Rainbow Chevrolet in LaPlace.

Raised by his grandparents, Millet deeply loved his two younger brothers who inspired him to attend business school. He earned his masters at Southeastern Louisiana University and was remembered as an athlete at Louisiana College.

Prudhomme said he and Millet bonded through music, adding music has been his No. 1 medicine in the challenging years since the boat crash.

Horzelski, who Prudhomme described as “wonderfully weird,” put his plans to become a technician on hold and dropped everything to take care of his terminally ill father.

Friends and family said it was typical for Horzelski, who also enjoyed hunting with his brothers, to put others before himself.

Longtime friend Brandon Mondebello was supposed to be the seventh person on the boat that day, but his plans were changed when he got into an argument with a family member. After hours of not hearing from any of the six, he called his friends’ parents and took a boat through the Reserve Canal to search for them.

He speculated his friends were stranded but safe on a broken down boat. When Mondebello heard there had been a boat wreck that likely involved the six, he rushed to Our Lady of the Lake Hospital.

Mondebello’s first reaction upon hearing five of his friends died was “complete and total shock and horror.”

“I think the families will forever be devastated by the situation,” Mondebello said. “It will forever be a horrible mark on that period of life for everyone that was affected.”

Today, Mondebello is a father to 10-month-old twins, one of whom is named Patrick Joshua after two of his dearly missed friends.