ALLENTOWN, Pa. – The community is rallying behind a Parkland High School cross-country runner who was critically injured when a tree branch fell on him in Allentown’s Lehigh Parkway.

The 15-year-old sophomore, who 69 News is not identifying due to his age, is still hospitalized.

“You could see the shavings from, you know, what they did and the tire tracks from the ambulance and the police cars that were here. It was a little surreal,” says Melissa Kayser, who was at Lehigh Parkway when the incident took place.

Kayser witnessed the aftermath and recalls what it’s like revisiting the spot where it happened. She gets emotional recalling what she saw that day.

“We could see at least two police officers pushing the tree, I guess, to get the tree off the boy. The other lady that was with me, she said she needed to pray right there. So, we stopped. We both ended up starting to cry, and we were praying because we knew Parkland was down here,” said Kayser.

It’s an image that has stuck with the woman, who has two teenagers of her own.

“My son’s only 14, and he’s a runner. So, that hit me on my way home; I was like, what if he would have come down here with me? And that would have been him,” Kayser remembers thinking on her way home that day.

Despite not knowing the boy, Melissa was brought to tears thinking about the tragedy.

“He’s young. He’s what, only 15? Young. From what I understood, he’s a black belt in martial arts. He has his whole life ahead of him. It’s making me emotional now even talking about it,” she said.

A GoFundMe started by his family states the teen has a severe traumatic brain injury, extensive spinal fractures, pulmonary contusions, and profound physical trauma.

Melissa isn’t the only one with the young boy and the unthinkable tragedy on their mind.

“I live in Whitehall, and I use the Ironton Rail Trail. I know being on there with the dog the other day, just kind of like looking at trees, just kind of noticing stuff different,” Chris Schmidt explains.

He says that has been the case since learning about the tragedy.

Schmidt, with Keystone Running Store, is doing what he can to support the family. Schmidt says the young boy now has an entire community rallying behind him.

“I think they’ll feel the need to help, even if it’s just a little bit to help out. I think it’s just the way the community is. It’s a strong-knit community supporting each other,” he said of the running community.

69 News also spoke with the communications director at Parkland High School, who said this:

The Parkland cross country team collected Grubhub gift cards and snacks and delivered them to the student and his family in the hospital.

The team has also been wearing ribbons and armbands in support of him. The administration is fundraising for the same things as the cross-country team but hasn’t yet delivered the items.

Other cross-country teams have offered to help and have delivered items to the Parkland Athletic office.

You can find the familys GoFundMe here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/stand-with-aakash-through-his-critical-recovery?utm_id=97758_v0_s00_e0_tv2_a1den1nc38qz73