Seven Years After Concord Teen's Suicide, a New Walk in His Memory

CONCORD, MA – It started as a senior project. Four Concord-Carlisle teens walking for their best friend, a year after he had taken his life. But the 2011 Community Walk at Concord-Carlisle raised $18,000.

So why stop there?

Six years later, the annual walks have raised a total of $81,000, Bobby Lania, one of the founders of the walk, said. Lania, Mikey Van Siclen, Will Toczylowski and Peter George organized the first walk for their best friend, Tyler Ryan, who committed suicide in 2010.

"We wanted to make sure his life didn't go away for no reason," Lania said. Since its inaugural year, the Community Walk has been run by Concord Youth Service Coordinators Erin Duggan and Jennifer Clarke, who took over the event when the boys left for college.

Now adults, Lania, Van Siclen, Toczylowski and George are turning their attention to a new undertaking in Tyler's honor – one that will take them to the nation's capital.

The four are members of Team Tyler, a 16-person team traveling to Washington, D.C. this summer for the Out of the Darkness Overnight Walk. They join Tyler's mother, Marty, and his brother and sister, Chris and Kendall, as well as Concord residents Will Morrison, Lizzie Morrison, Kerrie Borque, Michael Anastos, Max Barrett, Courtney McCauley, Kelly Gross, Jessie Gross, Hannah Reich, and Alex Gutwillig, who will all walk in Tyler's memory.

So far Team Tyler has raised a little over $25,000 of its $35,000 goal in just two weeks and currently is the leading fundraising team in the country.

"That's how passionate we are about this," Lania said.

Tyler Ryan's death seven years ago left the town of Concord "paralyzed," according to a 2011 Lowell Sun article. Lania, who was interviewed by the Sun, said Tyler's classmates "just broke down, running out of the school and crying" over the loss of "the most-liked kid in school."

Team Tyler's fundraising page describes him as "an intelligent student, an athlete, an involved church member, a leader, and above all: a compassionate friend."

"This is a tribute to how special Tyler was," Lania said. "If he were still here he’d be the one leading the charge. It's cool that we’ve been able to do something this successful in his honor."

The Overnight Walk begins the evening of June 17 and is a non-stop, 20-mile trek through the night, ending with a ceremony early the next morning. Proceeds from the walk will go to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

>>>Click here to donate to Team Tyler

Photo submitted by Bobby Lania