Priest blesses rings before 'groom' dies of crash injuries

Priest blesses rings before 'groom' dies of crash injuries

By SHAWNE K. WICKHAM
New Hampshire Sunday News Staff
2 hours, 28 minutes ago

MERRIMACK – A 20-year-old motorcyclist who crashed into a deer on the Everett Turnpike early Tuesday morning has died from his injuries.

Jonathon Simeone, a 2008 graduate of Merrimack High School, died at Massachusetts General Hospital Friday, surrounded by his parents and the woman he wanted to marry, according to Candy Simeone, his mother.

Simeone, a machinist at Insight Technology in Londonderry, was heading to work around 4:30 a.m. when he hit the animal just north of Exit 12. Critically injured, he was flown by medical helicopter to the Boston hospital.

And there, for three days, his parents and girlfriend, Megan Decelle of Nashua, kept a vigil as Simeone lay comatose.

A steady parade of his friends came to the hospital, or stopped by the house to take care of Jon's younger brother, Michael, his mother said. Relatives flew in from out of state. "People slept in chairs to be with him," she said.

Among those at his bedside was his uncle, a Catholic priest from Florida, who blessed the promise rings the young couple had bought for each other. "As far as I'm concerned, he and Megan were married," Candy Simeone said. "The rest is up to God."

After a series of scans showed her son's condition was worsening, the family gathered to say goodbye. Decelle sang a favorite song, "My Guardian Angel," and his parents held him close.

Candy Simeone said after her son took his last breath, she was filled with an intense sense of peace. "I felt like somebody was hugging my heart."

Jon Simeone was an organ donor; the family has learned his kidneys have already gone to two patients and his heart valves are waiting to be used. "For a mother to know that her child is living on in somebody else is the best gift of all," his mother said.

In addition to his mother, and his father and stepmother, Scott and Nancy Simeone of Amherst, Simeone leaves his 17-year-old brother, Michael, a senior at Merrimack High, and two stepbrothers.

He also leaves a legacy of kindness that his parents are only now learning about. More than 700 messages have been posted on a Facebook tribute page, many relating acts of kindness the 20-year-old had done for others.

Candy Simeone said there are two things people can do to honor her son: Become an organ donor, and wear a motorcycle helmet.

While a state police press release said preliminary indications were that Simeone was not wearing a helmet when the crash occurred, his mother said an EMT who was at the scene told her that he was in fact wearing one but it had been knocked off by the impact.

"Because Jon was wearing a helmet, we were given precious time with him to say goodbye," his mother said.

Simeone's funeral will be Wednesday at St. John Neumann Church. His complete obituary will appear in tomorrow's New Hampshire Union Leader.

http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Priest+blesses+rings+before+%27groom%27+dies+of+crash+injuries&articleId=9d01a5c2-b9ad-4f38-8863-ec71b7679227