BROWNWOOD, Texas — The widow of the firefighter who fell to his death at a Texas Rangers home game last week says the team, baseball and Josh Hamilton remain precious to her and her 6-year-old son.
In a statement released Tuesday, Jenny Stone also thanked everyone who has reached out to help her family since her husband, Shannon Stone, died.
Among those mentioned were Rangers president Nolan Ryan and a man who helped care for young Cooper the night his father died, and then visited the grieving family on Sunday.
“We are also thankful for Nolan Ryan, Josh Hamilton, the Texas Rangers, the Rangers fans, and all baseball fans, which have showed such concern and compassion,” Jenny Stone wrote in her first public comments. “While I was certainly surprised to hear Nolan Ryan on my phone on Friday morning, I was not surprised that he would act just like we all see him, as a true Texas gentleman. Josh Hamilton remains Cooper’s favorite baseball player, the Texas Rangers will always be our team, and baseball will always be our favorite game. . . . Shannon loved going to watch the Rangers and he loved Cooper. And, at the very end, he lived life to its fullest, doing something he loved.”
Stone, 39, lost his balance while reaching for a ball thrown to him by Hamilton — Cooper’s favorite player — and fell 20 feet onto concrete at the Rangers’ ballpark in Arlington.
He died an hour later.
Hamilton, in Phoenix for the All-Star Game, said he plans to reach out to the Stone family.
“Obviously I want it to be personal, face to face,” he said.
By The Associated Press
