The Hawaii Kai teen who died Wednesday after falling off his skateboard was known to many as an outgoing, fun-loving boy.
Reid Krucky, 16, a Kaiser High School sophomore, was a member of the school’s junior varsity football team, just one of the many ways he kept active, said Tim Seaman, his football coach and physical education teacher.
"Reid was a very hardworking young man," he said. "He was very active, he enjoyed working out. It was something he looked forward to doing."
Neighbors said they often saw Krucky playing outside with friends and his older brother, Kyle.
"He was such a good kid," said Gail Wong, who lives across the street from the Krucky family. "I’d see him and his brother playing basketball in the driveway with friends that would come over, skateboarding around. They were just kids being kids."
Police Detective Lugene Simeona said Wednesday that Krucky, while riding a skateboard, grabbed the back of a friend’s moped and traveled about 30 yards down Kalanipuu Street before he fell on the pavement.
He was taken by ambulance in critical condition with head injuries to the Queen’s Medical Center, where he died, authorities said.
Krucky was the son of Anton Krucky, co-founder, president and CEO of Tissue Genesis, a Honolulu-based regenerative medicine company. He declined to be interviewed.
Seaman said Krucky "had a real positive outlook toward life," adding, "He was really pleasant to be around, a real engaging type of kid."
Rich Miano, Kaiser’s varsity football coach, added, "He was one of those kids who was well liked by everybody. He was just a good kid, good grades, good family, never any problems, never in any trouble. It’s just a total shock that this happened."
Kaiser High School Principal John Sosa said the school is providing grief counseling to students and faculty.
"This was an accident and hindsight is 20/20," he said. "I think we all think of ‘would’ve, could’ve, should’ve,’ especially those who were there when it happened, but we need to help kids understand that accidents happen. … There’s just no answer to it, so our focus is really to help students process the loss of someone they know, how to cope with that. We’ll all miss him dearly."
Miano also said he hopes kids take this as a lesson to wear a helmet when engaging in activities such as skateboarding.
"If anything positive can come out of this, that’s the only thing. It’s way too short of a life, too tragic a loss."
