Ryan Conklin, 18, of Spring Glen, was operating a 2024 Yamaha motorcycle westbound on State Route 52 in Wawarsing on Thursday, July 2, New York State Police said. Investigators said Conklin was traveling at “an unsafe speed.”

The teenager then lost control of the vehicle, which slid across the road, traveled into the eastbound lanes and collided with a 2021 Toyota traveling the opposite direction, authorities said. The motorcycle itself slid under the car.

Conklin was thrown from the vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene, state police said. The Toyota driver, a 57-year-old Pine Bush woman, attempted to avoid the motorcycle and struck a rock barrier, according to investigators.

The driver and two passengers — a 79-year-old man and 77-year-old woman from Milford, PA — were hospitalized for minor injuries suffered in the crash, authorities said.

Conklin had graduated from Ellenville High School on Friday, June 26, just six days before the fatal wreck. He was planning to join the U.S. Air Force, according to an online fundraiser launched for his family.

“It was rare to see Ryan without a smile, and he was always ready to help those he cared about,” organizer Katie Reyes wrote in the GoFundMe. “He loved participating in sports and going to the gym, and enjoying life to the fullest with friends and family. He also was a believer in Jesus Christ.”

The fundraiser had raised more than $20,000 toward a $24,000 goal as of Wednesday, July 8. It promised to help Conklin’s family with “funeral costs and anything else they need during this hard time.”

“While the whole community he was part of is heartbroken and mourning, the loss of a child and a sibling is unimaginable,” Reyes wrote. “Ryan was so close to our children that he became part of the family.”

To view the fundraiser, click here.


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