Macomb Twp. mom: Son, 17, died in hit-run saving friend

Julie Tsatsos never thought God would take both of her sons.

But, she said — and has to believe — that God has a reason that he did.

On Sunday, she said, her son Ryan, 17, of Macomb Township was killed by a hit-and-run driver as he walked back to his dorm at Central Michigan University — saving the life of one his friends by pushing her out of the way before the speeding driver took his life.

About three months earlier, her other son, Darryl, 19, died in an accident in July in Macomb Township that Tsatsos said remains under investigation.

She is devastated, crushed.

Her sons, she said, were best friends; they did everything together. Ryan, a CMU freshman, missed his brother and struggled in school, his mother said.

“I can only believe in my heart that Darryl needed Ryan and Ryan needed Darryl,” she said Tuesday.

Police are seeking help in identifying the hit-and-run driver. The vehicle was described as older and dark in color with four doors, the Associated Press reported.

Tsatsos said two of the friends in the group with her son — a group that she said totaled nine people walking on the road near the university’s Mt. Pleasant campus — ran after the vehicle but could not get a plate number.

Ryan lived in Merrill Hall. Tsatsos said the group was headed there from a party when the hit-and-run accident occurred.

Tsatsos said the vehicle was coming up behind the group and Ryan pushed a girl, also of Macomb Township, out of the way. She said her son was struck and flew 30 feet into the air before landing in a ditch. He was dead at the scene though a nursing student in the group tried CPR.

Tsatsos said the vehicle was traveling about 80 m.p.h. She said her son’s friend, whom he pushed, wasn’t struck, but had minor injuries from being shoved and sought treatment.

She said Ryan, who played football at De La Salle Collegiate High School in Warren, was a happy-go-lucky person who always put others before himself. She said his smile “was always contagious” and he loved to dance.

Tsatsos said she’s happy her son saved someone else.

“It’s an honor he saved this girl’s life. I’m crushed that he died,” she said. “I wish the person who hit him would come forward and own up. I’m devastated that nobody knows anything."

A gofundme.com account was set up for the family, raising $34,645.

Tsatsos said she is humbled by the outpouring and love. That, she said, will keep her and her family going and possibly allow them to do something special in the boys’ names.

Visitation will be 3-9 p.m. Wednesday and 1-9 p.m. Thursday at Wujek-Calcaterra & Sons Funeral Home in Sterling Heights. The funeral mass is 10 a.m. Friday at St. Lawrence Catholic Church in Utica, according to Ryan’s obituary.

Contact Christina Hall: chall99@freepress.com.