IRVING, N.Y. (WKBW) — Family and friends of Dylan DeLong, a Fredonia father of three, are remembering a loved one and a friend after an accident over the weekend claimed his life.
According to Dylan's mother, Pamela Fox, Dylan was driving on Route 438 in Irving on Saturday with his three children when a tree fell, crushing a portion of the vehicle. Dylan sustained serious injuries; however, all three children were unharmed.
"Even his last dying words at the scene of the accident were, 'Are my kids OK', and 'Please don't let them see me die,'" Pamela told WKBW.
Dylan was transported to a nearby hospital where he passed away from his injuries. He was 34. In the aftermath of his passing, a GoFundMe has been created to support his family at this time.
"His kids were his life. He took amazing care of his three kids. He did everything for them. It didn't matter what it was," Pamela said. "He'd have makeup on for his little girl. He'd be playing catch with his boys. Fingernails painted half the time. He did whatever they wanted."
"He just always lit up the room when he walked in," Donald Fox, Dyaln's step-father, said. "He had just a humongous smile. He came in, and it was always something fun. You always knew you were gonna have fun when he came."
On top of being a parent, Dylan was a brother as well.
"Every time we hung out, it was always something fun," Jonah Fox said. "He didn't really say no to any of us. It was always, 'Do you wanna go play catch? Do you wanna go take a walk? Do you wanna go fishing?' He didn't care if it wasn't his hobbies. He would do it anyway."
WATCH: Family and friends remember Fredonia father of three killed in weekend accident
"There was a lesson in everything he said. He was always trying to teach you something," Jayden Fox, Dylan's youngest brother, said.
"Just somebody you look up to," Hayden DeLong said "A lot of the community kids looked up to him."
Hayden continued, "I grew up in Sheridan, so I went to Sheridan Recreation. And when my brother became a counselor at Silver Creek Recreation, I switched. The way he handled all of us, played with us, It was pretty amazing. It's always something to look up to, athletically, leadership-wise."
"You're hearing stories from my dad about him (Dylan) as an athlete; that's what I remember most about him, and how much it meant to me when he came to my games when I was little," Gavin DeLong, Dylan's younger brother, said. "I didn't even really know him well. We weren't around each other much these last few years, and finding out now that he was coming to my varsity games. It means a lot to me because the little bro in me wanted that."
In the wake of Dylan's passing, friends have continued to reach out.
“We all knew how much he meant to us, but with this happening, the calls, the texts that we get and how much he affected other people," Anthony DeLong, Dylan's father, said. "He was a recreation counselor down in Silver Creek, and we're getting texts from kids that were 8, 10, 12 years old when he was working with them and just how much they loved him, how much he loved to play."
Anthony continued, "I remember him telling me, 'Hey, I'm getting paid to play sports with kids.' To him, it was the perfect job because he just, he loved it, loved to play. Loved kids, even before he had kids."
One of his closest friends, Derek Pfleuger, also spoke with WKBW.
"He'd be there for me in the middle of the night whenever I called, if I needed something, always there to provide it, always including me in everything, never made me feel left out or anything else," Pfleuger said.
Even after his passing, Pfleuger says Dylan was still there for him.
"I haven't talked to my middle brother in 2.5 years. He also loved Dylan. Dylan would go pick up my brothers, bring them here." Pfleuger continued, "He heard what happened about Dylan. He got a hold of me, and I literally just left there and finally made peace with my brother after 2.5 years. So, as terrible as this all is, and I hate it, and I wish we could trade it for anything. There's that one little sliver of good thing that happened, at least to me."
Dylan's mother, Pamela, also shared a posthumous moment with her son. On Tuesday, after a difficult morning, Pamela asked for a sign that Dylan was okay. Moments later, lightning struck down one of the trees in the backyard of the home.
"He just always lit up the room when he walked in," Donald Fox, Dylan's step-father, added. "He had just a humongous smile. He came in, and it was always something fun. You always knew you're gonna have fun when he came."
According to Dylan's obituary, a Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Thursday at St. Columban's on the Lake Chapel at 10 a.m.
