Vigil held for Bedford student killed in car accident - wistv.com - Columbia, South Carolina |

Hundreds of people attended a vigil in Bedford Thursday to pay their respects to a high school senior who died that morning.

The vigil was held in the same stadium 17-year-old Colton Durbin played in on Friday nights. The community stood together silently in honor of Durbin.

Thursday morning, the varsity corner back for the Bedford football team passed away due to injuries sustained in a Wednesday morning car accident.

"It's devastating because we feel so badly for his family, for Colton and all the kids involved," said Mark German, athletic director at Bedford Public Schools. "[Durbin was] just a wonderful young man and he's going to be greatly missed."

Coaches, students, teammates, school staff and Bedford parents attended the vigil not to mourn, but to celebrate Durbin's life. His family was in attendance, surrounded by his teammates.

The four team captains rang a bell three times to signify Durbin's jersey number. The Friday night game will go as planned, at the wish of Durbin's family.

"I think it's certainly going to be sad and different than anything we've experienced, but we owe it to Colton and his family to go out and do the best we can," German said.

Teams across Michigan and northwest Ohio are showing their support for Bedford and Durbin's family by doing a ‘red-out.'

"It's been a powerful message to all of us, that they're behind us, and it's appreciated," German said. "You know, it's a little bit of a helpless feeling, but we are going to stick together and help the Durbins through this."

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