'He always had a smile': Classmates pay tribute to Vestal teen killed in car crash

Sarah Eames, Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin
·2 min read
1
Vestal seniors Nathan Fimbres, Diler Doski, Connor Tallon, Nicholas Labosky and Brayden Laskowski release a paper lantern from the football stadium Monday night in memory of their friend and classmate, 18-year-old Kadin Abdullah, who was killed in a car crash on Thanksgiving.
Vestal seniors Nathan Fimbres, Diler Doski, Connor Tallon, Nicholas Labosky and Brayden Laskowski release a paper lantern from the football stadium Monday night in memory of their friend and classmate, 18-year-old Kadin Abdullah, who was killed in a car crash on Thanksgiving.

At 2:40 p.m. Monday, the final bell rings at Vestal High School. A sea of purple, the color chosen to honor their classmate, floods the front drive, trickling onto buses and into the parking lot.

But a handful of students keep walking, past the Little League fields and the empty pool, a banner reading “opening in the summer of 2023!” idling on the chain link fence.

They are headed for the corner of Clayton Avenue and Clark Street, just two blocks away from the high school driveway. Here, a growing memorial to one of their own sprawls over the curb and onto the street.

Balloons, photos, candles. Flowers, a pair of signed basketballs, a box of Special K cereal. These are a tribute to Kadin Abdullah, a Vestal senior who died here in a car crash on Thanksgiving. It was his 18th birthday.

“He was such a bright kid,” said Brayden Laskowski, a 17-year-old senior who considered himself one of Abdullah’s best friends. “He always had a smile on his face and he always wanted to make people laugh.”

Laskowski recalled meeting Abdullah in the middle school cafeteria six years ago, when the pair were sixth graders. Abdullah had beckoned him over to sit with him and the other kids who would later become his best friends.

Obituary:Kadin J. Abdullah, 18, of Vestal died Nov. 24, 2022

Fatal crash:Vestal student, 18, killed on birthday in single-vehicle crash on Clayton Avenue

A group of Vestal High School students visit a memorial to their friend, 18-year-old Kadin Abdullah, at the corner of Clayton Avenue and Clark Street, where he was killed in a car crash on Thanksgiving.
A group of Vestal High School students visit a memorial to their friend, 18-year-old Kadin Abdullah, at the corner of Clayton Avenue and Clark Street, where he was killed in a car crash on Thanksgiving.

Laskowski said he has visited the street corner memorial every day since his friend’s death.

“It’s peaceful here,” he said. “It helps to see the memories. I think Kadin would want me to visit him here.”

Fellow seniors Kyla Smith and Nash Ahmed recalled similarly fond memories.

“He was just so funny,” Smith said. “He always put a smile on your face.”

“He was so friendly to everybody,” Ahmed added. “He never cared about cliques. He just wanted to be your friend.”

A candlelight vigil in Kadin Abdullah’s memory was held early Monday evening at Dick Hoover Stadium in Vestal.

This article originally appeared on Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin: Remembering Vestal student Kadin Abdullah, killed in car crash