COLUMBUS (WCMH) — A memorial rock now sits at Franklin Heights High School; the school where Tyler Jarrell would have been a senior.
It’s been a little more than six months since he was killed while riding the Fire Ball Ride at the Ohio State Fair.
Now his mother, Amber Duffield has this to add to her physical reminders of her son.
“I went over his name, and then I gave it a kiss,” said Duffield.
Since that tragedy, his mother says the days have been tough but she has to keep pushing forward.
“It’s still a day to day thing of realizing Slim’s not coming home and the most we can do is honor his memory, cherish our memories.”
She hopes this memorial rock will keep her son’s name alive even though the memory of how he died brings so much pain to her.
“It’s beautifully, awful. The beauty is, yes, we have a lasting remembrance of Tyler,” said Duffield. “The awful of it is that I’d much rather have Tyler.”
The rock reads:
In memory of Tyler Jarrell
April 16, 1999-July 26, 2017
To live well and touch the hearts of others is to make a lasting difference.
Class of 2018.
Jarrell’s dream of graduating from high school then going into the Marine Corps was cut short.
His mom believes the words on this rock can help future generations just like her son did while he was living.
The principal of Franklin Heights High School, Timothy Donahue, says they want to turn this entire area where Jarrell’s memorial rock sits into a memorial garden.