one of my friends was killed saterday may 2 2009 may he rest in peace

Written by Deathstrikes on May 11, 2009

vids.myspace.com/index.cfm? fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=56886371 - 87k -

a video of a rememberance of him

http://www.norwichbulletin.com/news/regional/x2133268773/ Eastern-Connecticut-skateboard-parks-use-signs-instead-of- supervision


Family grief-stricken at boy's death in Plainfield bike accident
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Plainfield, Conn. — Seth Howard knelt at the entrance of the skateboard park in Moosup Sunday, hung on to the chain-link fence, and wept for his son.

William Joseph Howard, 13, died Saturday after he fell off his bike and struck his head in an accident at the park.

“It hurts worse today,” Seth Howard said of the pain of losing his child.

He was at work when it happened. He thought his son was going to the movies, then at about 11:30 a.m., he said, his wife called him and said William had been in an accident at the park.

They didn’t know it was bad. “I figured a little boo-boo, maybe he needed a stitch,” he said.

When he got to The William W. Backus Hospital in Norwich, doctors were performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation on his son.

“They kept going and going. I wasn’t ready for them to stop. And the doctor said, ‘You know, even if he does come back, he’s never going to be William again.’ ”

Seth Howard said they told him it was massive brain trauma, and possibly spinal injuries, too.

“He loved and was loved, by all who knew him,” said a statement from Will’s mother, Nicole Howard, and his grandmother, Robin Seaman. “There is a hole in our hearts and we will miss him.”

Appears accidental

Police said witnesses told them the boy was attempting a maneuver at the top of a ramp at the skateboard park in the Little League complex on Lions Drive when he lost control and fell, striking his head. Police said they are investigating the incident, but all indications are that it was an accident.

William wasn’t wearing a helmet, even though the Howards have more helmets in their house than bikes, Seth Howard said. “And they’re cool ones,” he said.

He said a helmet might not have helped William, because he hurt his neck. But he said: “I don’t ever want to see a kid without a helmet on a bike again either.”

Seth Howard said his son spent time at his house and lived with his mother in Sterling. In a joint statement, Nicole Howard and her mother said William, known as Will by family and friends, loved the outdoors and water sports. In the winter, he went snowboarding, they said.

“He never came home from traveling without a little souvenir for everyone he loved,” they said.

Will was in the eighth grade at Sterling Memorial School and played soccer this fall. He was his class secretary and co-anchor on the school’s morning news broadcast that was shown each day to students.

“That makes it so tough because all of the kids, kindergarten on up would see him every day,” said Vince Agostine, principal of Sterling Memorial School. The school has about 50 eighth-graders, he said.

He said the school’s two social workers and school psychologist would be available to students today. Plainfield High School also is sending three counselors to help, he said.

“This coupled with last week’s tragedy is just devastating to our school,” Agostine said.

Last week, a first-grader from the school was hit by a car, he said. The boy, 7, was taken to the hospital after riding his bike out of a residential driveway in Sterling and colliding with a car.

“It’s just too much,” Agostine said.

Helpful child

William was the oldest boy of six children in the Howard household.

Seth Howard said William was the helpful child, the one who always hugged his father and told him he loved him, even if there were people around.

“He was the most helpful and giving person in the world,” Seth Howard said. William would have turned 14 on Friday, May 8.

He liked to ride his bike, fish and play paintball, his dad said.

But mostly, he liked to help others, family gathered at Seth Howard’s house said.

He wanted to become a nurse when he grew up, his grandmother said.

“He never left the house without telling you he loved you,” said his grandmother, Sandy Howard, her eyes rimmed red. “He never hung up the phone without telling you that he loved you. Some kids, when they get to be teenagers, they don’t want to do that. Not William.”

William shared a bedroom with his younger brother, Nathan, 6, nicknamed “Bum-bum.”

“They were inseparable,” Seth Howard said.

Sometimes they’d fight, as brothers do, but during April vacation, when William was with his mom, his little brother called him 17 times, Seth Howard said.

Last month, Nathan’s skateboard broke. William took apart two of his own to make his brother a new one.

“He was such a good boy,” said his great-grandmother, Elizabeth Shawchuk.

William also offered to assist his friends. A couple of weeks ago, Seth Howard said he came home to find a child he’d never seen before with William, working in his toolbox. The friend had popped a tire tube on his bike. William pulled a bicycle from under the family’s porch, took the tube off the old bike and repaired the friend’s bicycle.

Skate park closed

The skate park was locked Sunday morning and a sign said it would be closed indefinitely.
Someone had left a bouquet of roses and a porcelain angel just inside the door. Petals were scattered around the entrance.

Police tape cordoned off the eight parking spaces at the park. Posted rules indicate the park is restricted to skateboards and in-line skates only, and that helmets are required. There is no indication that it is supervised.

Plainfield First Selectman Paul Sweet said he would discuss today the possibility of re-opening the skate park. “We’re all upset over this,” he said.

Sandy Howard said William wanted a new bike for his birthday and was saving up for it. He had asked his various grandparents and relatives what they could pitch in. She said she never worried about him, never imagined such a thing would happen.

“Who would have ever thought, that from something so innocent as riding a bike, that something like this could happen?” she said.
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im going to miss you william