Vigil honors 4-year-old Burlingame boy killed in crash

One of the children, a 6-year-old girl, was transported to Stanford Hospital for non life-threatening injuries. The other child was Ayden, and during the Aug. 24 vigil, mourners — who lit candles in honor of his life — got to learn more about the young boy who had filled his parents’, friends’ and teachers’ lives with laughter, joy and precocious curiosity.

Ayden had recently completed Burlingame Library’s 100 Books Before Kindergarten program, and was deservedly proud of the accomplishment, his uncle Michael Deng told the crowd.

“[He] was so excited to turn in this worksheet, get a prize and receive his next sheet. Painfully, this would be his first and last sheet, as he never got the chance to turn it in,” Deng said. “The fact that he’s gone still feels surreal.”

He was also an extraordinarily devoted older brother, going to lengths to make his younger brother laugh. Deng shared a memory Ayden’s mother recalled, when Ayden had told her he hoped to be a daddy when he grew up, taking care of babies and his younger brother.

When asked if he would even change his younger brother’s diapers, he gave an enthusiastic yes.

“He says, ‘Yeah, that would be very nice, because playing is really nice, learning is really nice. I’m going to do everything my brother needs,’” Deng said. “‘I will be a big, big, grown up. I will be the biggest, bigger than mommy, bigger than daddy.’”

At preschool, Ayden got along with all his classmates and was a model pupil, showing great interest in his schoolwork, his teacher Amna Rehmane said during the vigil.

“He began to read soon after his fourth birthday, and writing letters was his passion. He would tell me that every day, when he woke up, the first thing he wanted to do was to write his letters in his workbook,” Rehmane said. “Ayden was a thinking child.”

After Rehmane shared stories about Ayden, community members stood in silent reflection for four and a half minutes, to mark what would have been Ayden’s four-and-a-half birthday.

Ayden’s father spoke last, sharing the overwhelming feelings of rage, grief and despair that accompany the loss of a child.

“Loving memories of Ayden, the innocent laughter of his brother, and unyielding support from the unwavering support from those near and far formed a sea wall around us,” he said. “Without that, we’ll be crushed by the unrelenting waves of sorrow and grief. Without that, I don’t think we’ll be standing with everyone here today.”

He also touched on the conversations around pedestrian safety that have hit Burlingame in force since the crash, giving space to the two other families that have lost a loved one in traffic-related pedestrian deaths in Burlingame in the past year.

Those victims were Arlene O’Campo, who was crossing the street at El Camino Real and Trousdale Drive when she was struck in a fatal hit-and-run crash, and Yolanda Villar, who was struck and killed by a vehicle making a left turn from North Delaware Street onto Peninsula Avenue at the Burlingame-San Mateo line.

In the week before his death, Ayden had built a LEGO monument and placed it on the family’s mantel, his father said. Discovering it in the days after, the family believes that the monument holds a simple but powerful message — to protect children like Ayden, other pedestrian, and the city of Burlingame.

“In due course, we’d like to unite the community and improve pedestrian safety here in California,” his father said. “That’s for Ayden’s brother, that’s for Ayden’s friends, and that’s for Ayden’s city.”

A gofundme formed to support Ayden’s family in the aftermath of the tragedy has raised over $83,000. It can be found at gofundme.com/f/burlingame-fang-family.