Family, friends, school remember teen killed in bike accident on 57

When he was asked to talk about his younger son who died following a weekend traffic accident, Brian Sismour talked about a recent photo of 14-year-old Alexander.

“That’s Alex … that smile … that’s him,” his father said Monday evening by phone from the family’s home, which saw visits by scores of students, family and friends all trying to extend some measure of comfort. “He was always smiling, always adventurous, always indestructible. He was a pretty fearless kid and pretty headstrong.

“He could not believe there was any way possible any harm could come to him,” his father said. “But then he did have harm come to him,” he said, his voice quavering momentarily.

Alexander Sismour died Saturday afternoon at EMH Medical Center in Elyria about an hour after he was struck by a van while riding his bicycle across state Route 57 from East Broad Street.

The boy, who suffered multiple injuries, was one of a group of youngsters who were traveling westbound on bicycles across Route 57 about 3:45 p.m., according to police. The teen was struck on his bicycle by a minivan driven by Stacy R. Stanford of Elyria, who was northbound on Route 57. Police said the woman had a green light at the time and tried to swerve to avoid hitting the teen, who apparently stopped his bike in the crosswalk in the middle of the roadway.

As boisterous, friendly and happy-go-lucky as Alexander was, he also had a sensitive, caring side, according to his father, who told a story he and the boy’s mother, Doreen, knew nothing about until it was posted on Facebook after the weekend accident.

The anecdote came from a neighbor girl who spoke of an incident when she and Alexander attended Wilcox Elementary School.

She and Alex would walk to Wilcox. This girl tripped and fell and Alex immediately tripped and fell, too. Then he got up and walked with her to school. He told her later “I fell so the other kids wouldn’t make fun of you,’ ” Sismour said.

“We never knew that,” he said, his voice breaking. “We had no idea.”

A number of grief counselors were at North Ridgeville High School on Monday to help students cope with the loss, according to Principal Patricia Bahr.