Berthoud – Support for Nikko Landeros and Tyler Carron is as broad as the maroon banners draping the entrance to “The Hope Center” at the local high school.
The impromptu shrine includes photos of Nikko and Tyler wearing their team uniforms and is framed by flowers and scrawled messages of encouragement from friends they have known since middle school.
Moist brownies and cookies are piled on a nearby table – to be auctioned to help pay for the boys’ medical care. The popular athletes lost their legs after being hit and pinned against their vehicle by an SUV driven by a 17-year-old classmate just over a week ago.
She, too, is not forgotten. The driver, an artist and singer, also has been embraced by her fellow classmates. She returned to class Monday.
“She should be here,” said 17-year-old Nick Ludwig, a wrestler and teammate of Nikko and Tyler. “It wasn’t her fault.”
Colorado State Patrol troopers say the girl – who has not been identified by police or school officials – was driving southbound in a Toyota Land Cruiser on Larimer County Road 17 about 11:30 p.m. when she ran into the two boys, who had stopped to change a flat tire on their Isuzu Trooper.
They were removing a spare tire from the tailgate when their legs were crushed by the girl’s vehicle.
Both are off respirators and remain in stable condition, said Berthoud High athletic director Fred Dreier. Landeros is fighting a lung infection, and there is no indication when he might come home.
Already, in the infancy of their recovery, the boys are still being boys, says Berthoud senior Maggie Murtagh.
“Dorks,” as Maggie playfully put it.
Tyler was Maggie’s first crush and first kiss. When she visited him in the hospital, Tyler wanted another kiss – and a Big Mac.
“These are good guys; they are fighters,” Maggie said.
A quickly organized phone- a-thon raised thousands of dollars in pledges Monday night for the boys and their families. Some folks didn’t want to wait for a phone call and dropped by the school during the fundraiser to donate thousands of dollars, teacher Jeanne Wade said.
“One woman came in and was so mad that we didn’t call her and handed over a check for $2,000,” Wade said.
More than $58,000 was raised.
Proceeds from all athletic events this week will go toward the families. A spaghetti dinner also is planned Monday to raise money while local builders are donating time and materials to make the boys’ homes wheelchair friendly.
Another family is buying the boys laptops, while other schools are asking what they can do to help, Dreier said.
“The outpouring has been amazing,” he said.
The driver of the Land Cruiser, meanwhile, is being offered assistance as well, Dreier said.
“There is community-wide support for what she’s going through,” he said. “Her life has changed as well.”
State Patrol troopers say they are still investigating the crash and are “in no hurry” to file charges.
Students and teachers at Berthoud say they hold no ill will toward the girl. She moved here while in middle school, and she has become one of them.
“There is some anger, but not toward her,” said Becky Pope, a junior and student body president. “It’s just a horrible situation.”
“If anything,” Pope said, “I think a lot of people feel sorry for her.”
Staff writer Monte Whaley can be reached at 720-929-0907 or mwhaley@denverpost.com.
Contributions
Donations to help the two boys can be made to:
The Medical Fund to Benefit
Tyler Carron and Nikko Landeros, c/o The Berthoud Wrestling Club,
Centennial Bank of the West, 807 Mountain Ave., Berthoud, CO 80513
A benefit spaghetti dinner also is planned from 5 to 9 p.m. Monday at Berthoud High School. The cost is $10 a ticket, and they are available at the school.
