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Palo Alto Online

'Terrible loss'

by Rachel Metz

Friends and family gathered at Unity Palo Alto Community Church Wednesday to celebrate the life of Jaerin Delaney, but for many their thoughts wandered a few blocks away to Delaney's best friend, Colin Van Hare.

Van Hare was in the driver's seat Saturday morning when the two Gunn High School students crashed into a one-ton pickup truck on Highway 145 in Madera County. Delaney was killed in the accident and Van Hare, who suffered head injuries, a broken collarbone, and some scrapes and bruises, should recover, California Highway Patrol Officer Daniel Freeman said. While friends and family remembered Delaney Wednesday, Van Hare was at home, where he's been sleeping a lot and is on pain medication, his mother, Michele Estabrook, said. "It's an absolute miracle that he's alive," Estabrook said. Before going over to Van Hare's house on Tuesday, friend Emmy Negrin said visiting him would be one of the hardest things she's had to do. "I just think that ... it's going to be very hard for him to take but he's a strong person and I'll be with him every single day," Negrin said. Negrin said she and Van Hare's friends will rally around him and his family. "I've just tried to find out how he's (doing), his emotional state, try to figure out what I can say to him and how we're going to get through this," she said. Van Hare could face vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence charges, though the case is still under investigation. CHP Officer Tim McKown said the officer at the scene of the accident recommended the charges to the Madera County district attorney. Freeman said witnesses at the scene reported seeing Van Hare recklessly driving at an excessive speed and passing over double yellow lines. "I think one witness placed the speed of this vehicle at between 80 and 100 miles an hour," McKown said. Estabrook did not want to comment on the possible charges. Despite the CHP investigation, Kathleen Nazak, Delaney's half-sister, said her family doesn't blame Van Hare or his family.

"I think it's terrible, I don't think you can punish that boy any more than he's been punished, having to deal with that every day," Nazak said. She called it a "terrible loss for both families."

"It's hard for both of us. We've both suffered huge losses and their family will never be the same either," she said.

This most recent accident has left an indelible mark on the community. At the memorial Wednesday afternoon, several friends and family members spoke about Delaney.

Negrin, who was best friends with Delaney and Van Hare, said, "Without him here I feel like half of me is gone."

Jaerin's sister Maureen Moncrieff expressed Delaney's love for adventure and traveling, noting how he tackled all tasks with gusto, except perhaps homework or some chores.

"It's so hard to sum up Jaerin in just a few words," Nazak said.

He was a fun-loving 17-year-old who was as comfortable with adults as he was with children, she said.

"He liked to have fun and he loved to be with his friends, but I could call him on Saturday night and invite him over for dinner and he'd come," Nazak said. Natalie Kim, an incoming Gunn senior and friend to both boys, said some friends' younger siblings are clearly affected by news of Delaney's death because he was so friendly. "He was so full of life, so full of energy, almost too full sometimes. He always had a smile on his face. He was really enthusiastic about everything, just honestly a really nice person," Kim said. Kim said Van Hare's friends will support him and help him overcome the stigma attached with such an event. "I think that's what he really needs to have around him, like the knowledge that everyone's not thinking about the accident when they look at him, that they still see Colin, you know, as a person," she said.