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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Hundreds attended the vigil.
