BALLWIN, Mo. – The Parkway West community paid tribute to a recent graduate, 18-year-old Jaydon Woodall, who tragically died on Interstate 270 Monday night.
“A lot of people like to say, it could be any one of us, but today it was one of us,” said Donteaus Moore, a former football teammate.
At 7:30 p.m., Woodall was riding his motorcycle in the southbound lanes of I-270 near Ladue Road. He tried to change lanes at a high speed and struck the back of another car. The impact catapulted him off his motorcycle. He died Tuesday morning at the hospital.
Friends, teammates, and community members attend a vigil held at the football field, where he became a rising star.
“The nicest kid I’ve ever known. He always had a smile on him. He had the whitest teeth I’ve ever seen,” said Brody Barnhart, a close friend of Woodall. “His laugh was contagious when he laughed, you wanted to laugh with him.”
“He’s a big part of the team and the school, he made a big impact on all of us, even if he didn’t know it,” Moore said.
Woodall recently graduated from Parkway West High School and signed to play football at Missouri Western State University, where he was going to study to be a nurse. He was back home for a break before starting school.
His family said he always wore his “organ donor” bracelet because he wanted to help people. Now Jaydon, or JJ as he’s called, will help several people with his gift to them.
“Just a model student. Stuck up for what was right. He did what was right. He believed in being a part of something and making this place a better place for him and his classmates,” said John Mccabe principal of Parkway West High School.
Every hug, tear, and word of love, showed that the community is there for his family.
Parkway West High School will hold counseling services Wednesday from 8:30 a.m. to noon.