A Colorado woman died Saturday when she crashed her motorcycle on a memorial ride for her son, who died last month in a motorcycle crash.
The Colorado State Patrol said Diane Everett, 51, was riding a 2012 Honda CBR with about 80 other riders, and at 12:30 p.m., a horse jumped out from the side of the road causing her to swerve, lose control and crash into a ditch around a left-hand curve on Larimer County Road 12, the Fort Collins Coloradoan reported.
“As we were getting closer, I could see bike parts and I think we both knew what happened,’' Joshua Everett, Diane’s stepson, told the Coloradoan. “All I could think of was, ‘Not again. I can’t lose two of them.’’'
Everett, who was wearing a helmet, was taken to a hospital where she was pronounced dead. Investigators believe excessive speed was also a factor.
Her son, Michael Everett Jr., 23, died April 5 in a motorcycle crash. The bike Diane Everett was riding was one of his.
“I think she was fighting at the scene to stay alive, but at the same time I don’t think she wanted to come back, but instead felt my little brother’s spirit and chose to be with him,’' Joshua Everett said. “Our mother was hurting after Michael died, and we knew she was hurting, but she was so courageous that she didn’t let on she was hurting. I know my mom is happy and in a better place, no longer in pain.”
The family setup a crowd-sourced funding account to pay funeral expenses.
“Our mother was one hell of a mother who wore her emotions on her sleeve,’' Everett said. “Right now we are trying to be strong for my dad, who is hurting. We are trying to be as strong as I know our mother would be.’'