On Easter, Mark, Kym, Kelly and Ryan distributed Tyler's ashes at a lighthouse on Kauai where the five Hilinskis had distributed Kym's mother's ashes several years ago. But that was the first time I had talked to anybody that kinda sat over here, and I appreciated it. I don't know how to make it better for her. This year, she and her oldest son, Kelly, went together. She remembers when Tyler reached the crest of a hill and started coasting down, he would yell, "Downhill freedom! I don't much like the word.
He loved the FaceTime calls from Tyler after practice, or the simple excitement of glancing down and seeing a bigger text bubble from his son.This season, Ryan switched his uniform number to Tyler's No. '"On the kitchen counter of the Hilinski home one day last month sat a letter from USC coach Clay Helton, offering Ryan a four-year athletic scholarship. Talking about them keeps them present.When you live with the awful every moment of every day, the awful becomes everyday. In high school, he referred to her as Kymmy Kym. A year later, she confided to us that the house had been so sad she had to leave.I understood that the moment I read last January that Washington State quarterback Tyler Hilinski ended his life.
"I'm all bought into football, of course," he said, "and I think Tyler would want me to do the same thing.
But they told Sports Illustrated that Tyler had become less responsive to calls and text messages late last season and after a family vacation to Mexico in January. ""You go to the hard drive and find the stuff," Mark said. "Mark and Kym go through their phones and computers, looking for pictures of Tyler to post on the foundation website or to provide to news media. It's an adjustment.
Tyler Hilinski's family has started Hilinski's Hope, a foundation to help schools better support athletes dealing with mental illness.Mark Hilinski told "Today" that the medical examiner determined Tyler "had the brain of a 65-year-old, which is really hard to take." And so that's probably why. And I say, 'You can't get back. "And I thought, 'What is Ryan doing? Kym awakens before dawn and begins to do the work of the foundation, reading and responding to emails, writing thank-you notes for contributions.
Mark was on my left," Kym said. The last thing you want to do is acknowledge them or, God forbid, celebrate them. Except that this problem, the biggest that he and Kym have ever faced, can't be fixed.
like you guys get there like that's my brother on National television touchdown and win it. Ryan plans to graduate in December and enroll at South Carolina in January. "I was sitting in the middle. She likes going to the movies. ""I remember sitting there just crying, just thinking how did I even say he could ever play football?" I read how fragile I was, how slowly I walked, how, on my first reporting trip after returning to work, Oregon head coach Mark Helfrich brought me to tears just by asking me how I was doing.Orange Lutheran has begun this season 2-1. (7:00)He understands that he is not the first father to lose a son. Mark wore the same jeans every day. "As Kym looks back, she understands they are making progress.
Mark Hilinski told "Today" that the medical examiner determined Tyler "had the brain of a 65-year-old, which is really hard to take." You catch yourself having a good moment, and then a good hour, and then maybe even a good day.These days, Kym spends time with Tyler by walking a mile and a half to the post office. But I have played that scenario out a few times. He understands we live in a world where bad things happen.
Mark and Kym will raise the Cougars flag at Washington State's home opener Saturday, and a Hilinski's Hope flag will hang in Martin Stadium this season.But people hesitate, sometimes under the guise of protecting the feelings of the bereaved. There's car crashes. "And we were seeing 'Mission Impossible: Fallout.' That's when she talks to Tyler. They don't know what to say. Ryan was on my right.
"I know you love knowing where I'm gonna be, Mom." "I just meant it for me. "I remember looking over at Ryan. Tyler told her. Hilinski’s family then had to decide whether Tyler’s younger brother, Ryan, now a quarterback at South Carolina, would continue his football career. "If you can muster it, that'll put some perspective on you quick," Mark said, "but it doesn't lessen the sadness for me. Tyler had promised Kym they would climb it before he graduated.