Friends, family remember Kyle Wells

Cody High School Equus

A desk sits empty in Dr. Rose Bigelow’s fourth-hour World History class. No one will occupy the place where a sophomore boy who recently committed suicide sat. Instead, a piece of paper lays on it that reads, “RIP Kyle Wells. U were a great guy. U will be missed by all.”

Those who knew him best say Kyle was, in fact, a great guy.

“[He was] very outgoing and kind,” said sophomore Breanna Edwards, one of Kyle’s friends. “He was the sweetest kid ever. He always put others before himself. He was definitely dorky. He would always dance randomly no matter where he was.”

Kyle’s best friend, sophomore Steve Franklin, agreed Kyle was selfless.

“He was kind of one of those kids that thought about other people rather than himself,” Franklin said. “He was a fun kid. He was crazy, but in a fun way.”

Both friends agree that they miss Kyle’s smile the most.

“If you go to his grandma’s house, there’s pictures of him as a little kid,” Franklin said. “He had to grow into his teeth. Most people have to grow into their heads.”

English teacher and Kyle’s homeroom adviser Mr. Trev Wood said although Kyle was quiet at first, he became quite animated and had a good sense of humor.

“Whenever [a] class discussion was over, he’d jam out to his tunes,” Wood said. “He liked Green Day.”

Bigelow said Kyle was a leader in her class.

“He always knew all of the answers,” Bigelow said. “I think that made him feel smart. [In my class] he was smiling, he was happy. We got to see the best of Kyle.”

Kyle’s grandma Sharon Wells said she was surprised the suicide happened.

“At one time, when he was so depressed he was cutting himself. At that time [suicide] it was a possibility,” Wells said. “But he was going for treatment and seemed to be doing better so no, I was shocked this was happening.”

Wells had taken care of Kyle since he was born and officially adopted him when he was 3.

“Kyle had Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and emotionally, he wasn’t very strong,” Wells said. “He was depressed and I think the name calling and teasing and things just got to be more than he could take.”

Bigelow said that she sometimes feels responsible for not noticing what was going on.

“These kids become like your family,” Bigelow said. “At his funeral, kid after kid and then adults stood up and said this [bullying] had been going on. I guess I didn’t see it. We all need to do a better job of noticing bullying and standing up for kids. It’s going to take all of us to fix this.”

Edwards hope students learn from this tragedy.

“Stop bullying,” Edwards said. “Cause honestly, after high school, none of this will matter. None of the stupid groups. Nothing. It’s sad it came to this. And this might sound mean, but I hope the people that bullied him realize what they did. And [that] what they said killed a student of Cody High.”