‼️ AN 11-YEAR-OLD BOY LEFT HOME ON HIS BICYCLE FOR SCHOOL WEDNESDAY MORNING. HE NEVER MADE IT THROUGH THE SCHOOL DOORS. 💔

Torren O’Grady was only 11 years old.

A sixth grader who should have been worrying about homework, seeing his friends and settling into a new school year is instead being remembered by an entire Connecticut community after a tragic morning ended his life.

According to Connecticut State Police, Torren was riding his bicycle less than a mile from North Stonington Elementary School when his bike collided with the front left wheel of a school bus as the bus turned onto Pinecrest Road.

Police described the incident as a “run-over event.”

Torren died from his injuries.

The tᩚraɢedy came just five days after students had returned to school. For his family, what should have been an ordinary Wednesday morning became a moment that changed everything.

Torren was not only a student. He was also part of the Stonington Bears youth lacrosse family, where he wore the number 49.

Now, that number has become a symbol of remembrance.

His lacrosse community is asking families to leave a lacrosse stick outside their homes and keep a porch light shining in Torren’s memory.

“Let every porch light shine for Torren. Let every lacrosse stick remind his family that they are surrounded by a community standing beside them in love and support.”

The tribute has already spread beyond Torren’s own team. Lacrosse programs and families across Connecticut have joined in, placing sticks on porches for a young boy many never had the chance to meet.

State Senator Heather Somers also shared the request, expressing in heartbreaking simplicity what so many people are struggling to accept:

“A child left home to go to school and should have come home again.”

Those words capture the unimaginable pain of Torren’s family.

He left home expecting an ordinary school day.

His family expected him to return.

Instead, they are now facing an empty place at home and a future without the little boy they loved.

And perhaps that is why this tribute feels so powerful in its simplicity.

A porch light.

A lacrosse stick.

The number 49.

Small gestures, but enormous messages.

They tell Torren’s family that their son mattered. That his life touched people. That his community has not forgotten him and will stand beside them through the grief.

For a family experiencing a loss no parent should ever have to endure, every message of love matters.

Tonight, if you are able, consider leaving a porch light on for Torren. 🕯️

If you have a lacrosse stick, place it outside in his memory. 🥍

And most importantly, please keep his family, friends, teammates, classmates and everyone who loved him in your thoughts and prayers. 🙏❤️

Torren should have come home.

May his memory live on through every light that shines, every lacrosse stick placed outside, and every person who remembers #49. 💔🕯️🥍