User blog:Tiaxn/IMPORTANT - Regarding user Tiololo

If you've clicked on this then I'm assuming you know who user:Tiololo is... if not please check out his profile. Otherwise I'm going to get to the point quickly.

Some of you may have picked up on the fact that as one of the most active users on the Wiki, Lucas pretty much never goes about a week without editing, even though he seems to be a busy student. And many close friends may have noticed he hasn't contributed now in over two months. Now I can give you a definitive answer as to what's going on, and it isn't good news.

Be warned that what you're about to read may be upsetting, especially if you were a close friend of his. This is admittedly hard for me to write too, but I feel that what it is important for you to know, because you, the Wiki community, were an important part of Lucas' life.

I used to know him in secondary school but we parted ways after leaving for different high schools. Last month a friend messaged me on facebook with some disheartening news, and as the skeptical person I am, I decided to try to call Lucas but was never met with a reply. Some further digging around with old friends confirmed the rumours to be true -

On 3 May 2016, Lucas Tio Rallyn was involved in a serious accident affecting a lorry driver and another bicyclist - one of our old secondary school friends called Nathan. From what I've heard, the HGV lorry was speeding down a road and didn't slow down at a T junction coming off it, the driver disregarding every driving safety regulation under the sun because the delivery was about to be late. Unfortunately it so happened Luke and Nathan were out on their bikes on way to the skate park, crossing the junction which meant a collision happened. Nathan is still in hospital with a a broken leg, fractured wrist and a few slightly fractured vertebrae, and though in pain, he's in a stable condition where he can eat, talk and even laugh.

I was horrified to find out what happened to Lucas though. He had been knocked several yards straight into a hard metal gate by the impact still on his bike, then fell forwards onto the handlebars. The force of the blow rendered him unconscious and he suffered extremely serious neck, skull and back injury as well as internal bleeding. The hard fall onto the sharp bike frame also fractured several ribs, one of which punctured a lung, and I doubt the list of injuries ends there. He's still in a coma in hospital... in critical condition.

I called Nathan up last week asking what had happened (surprised he was even in the mood to talk to me) and the above account was what he mentioned. However, his voice shaking, he also told me that they were riding in single file, with himself in front - and that moments before the collision, he heard Lucas shout at him. Then felt a sudden push from behind him, sending him falling off his bike forwards just out of harm's way moments before Lucas was smacked into the gate. Suddenly, there and then, I just burst into tears and kept sobbing for a straight thirty minutes after hanging up. I don't really know why. But I think it was the image of Luke slouched over his bike, smiling during his last conscious moments, knowing he had saved his friend... I think it was just too much for me to bear.

Needless to say, everyone hopes with all their heart he will recover well, but it's unlikely he'll ever be able to walk again even if he does. I'm sure you guys will know that he was a kind, studious and ultimately heroic friend who always made an effort to help others. If any of you have lost close friends before, you'll know how awful it feels for us - but I can bet the pain is not comparable to what his family are experiencing right now.

Let's all wish him the best.