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Skateboarders gather to remember fellow rider

 
Christy Randolph, the mother of 15-year-old Austin Demauro, is hugged in Fossil Park by family friend Breezy Hayslip, 10, Sunday at a memorial for Austin, who died after hitting his head.
Christy Randolph, the mother of 15-year-old Austin Demauro, is hugged in Fossil Park by family friend Breezy Hayslip, 10, Sunday at a memorial for Austin, who died after hitting his head.
Published Feb. 9, 2015

ST. PETERSBURG — The teens pulled on "in memory of" T-shirts and scrawled their names on a picture collage, with messages like "skate in paradise" and "shredd it up there with Jesus." Then they got on their boards and skated, most without helmets.

It had been one week since 15-year-old Austin Demauro went "skitching" near Fossil Park. Feet planted on his board, Demauro grabbed a car bumper for a tow. When he let go, police said, he wobbled and fell, and hit his head on the pavement. He was not wearing a helmet.

On Sunday, hundreds of loved ones gathered at the park to remember the boy they said was a great friend, whose goodbyes always came with a hug. There was no ceremony, no speeches. The day was meant to bring everyone together, to help each other cope.

"I just thought it'd be good to relieve some stress, to celebrate his life rather than mourning his death," said Demauro's best friend Nathan Glass, 14, who helped plan the gathering.

Madison Lucier, 16, made photo collages, drawing a board with "skate in paradise" sketched above Demauro's portrait.

"Rest in peace is too mainstream for him," she said, laughing. "I think that everyone wants to believe he's up there shredding right now."

Demauro started skateboarding about two years ago. He liked to go mudding at his dad's property and got razzed for skating at the park in his camouflage hat, listening to underground rap music. He was an individual, his friends said.

"I don't want people to have the image of Austin that he was a bad kid," Glass said. "He didn't get in trouble, he didn't get bad grades, he didn't do anything dumb."

The day he died, his best friend said, was the first time Demauro had ever gone skitching. Glass isn't sure his friend's death will increase helmet use at the park.

"Honestly, I don't even know why I don't wear a helmet myself," Glass said.

Northeast High School, where the teen was a freshman, allowed students to attend his funeral Friday. There was standing room only in the sanctuary; more than half the crowd was teens said Pastor Scott MacFarlane, who led the service.

"I don't ever want to have to do another 15-year-old's funeral for falling off a skateboard," he said. "It was a difficult one."

MacFarlane has worked as a youth pastor for 13 years. His own son was friends with Demauro. As he watched the teens skate without helmets Sunday, he said he didn't believe they meant to disrespect Demauro's memory.

"I think it's a mentality that they're bigger than life," he said. "They're not looking at the big picture."

Throughout the day, Demauro's mother, Christy Randolph, received a train of hugs from attendees. One woman came to offer support. Ten years ago, she lost her son in a skateboarding accident. He wasn't wearing a helmet, either.

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"I just wanted to be here to tell his mom Christy she is not alone," said Marcy Tilmann, of Safety Harbor, who created the Ian Tilmann Foundation, a nonprofit in her son's name that gives free helmets to skateboarders if they sign a pledge.

Changing the skater culture, she said, has not been easy.

"It's just not cool. It's not gnarly enough for them. They believe you're taking the risk out of it," Tilmann said Sunday, upset that all around her were skaters without helmets. "For Ian and Austin, a helmet would have made all the difference in the world."

But as the sun crept higher and hotter, some of the teens came around. Neven Abbarno, 15, retrieved two helmets from his mother's car, the ones she'd been nagging him all day to wear.

"He's warming up to the idea," said his mom, Angela Warrick.

Abbarno handed a black one to Kejuan Samuels, 16, who placed a white sticker across the crown before placing it on his own head. "In loving memory of Austin Demauro," it read.

Abbarno kept the other for himself, dancing with the helmet for several minutes, making friends laugh, before finally placing it atop his head, the chin strap left unclasped.

Contact Katie Mettler at kmettler@tampabay.com or (727) 893-8913. Caroline Dunning is on the staff of the Tampa Bay Times' high school weekly and website, tb-two*,