Family, friends remember ISU victim

AMES, Iowa — An Iowa State University student who was killed in a car accident Saturday in New Mexico was described by his father as “bound and determined to succeed.”

“That’s kind of what contributed to his ultimate demise,” said Steve Danielson, of Carlisle, Iowa. “He was bound and determined to go on this spring break trip.”

Tyler Danielson, 19, was pronounced dead on Saturday after the vehicle he and five other people were riding in spun out of control and flipped on Interstate 40 in east-central New Mexico.

Authorities said the vehicle was driven by Anand Patel, 18, of Nasik, India. The other passengers in the vehicle were Kristina Cole, 22, of Perry, Iowa, and Wei Feng, 22; Jaihui Liu, 19; and Peng Bao, 20, all from China.

Police reports indicate the students were westbound at around 7 a.m. when their car drifted into the median. Patel reportedly over-corrected, causing the 2003 Saturn to flip and eject four of the passengers from the vehicle.

Patel, Cole, Bao and Feng have since been discharged from the hospital with minor injuries, but Liu was still unconscious and in critical condition, said a spokesman for the University of New Mexico Hospital.

Steve Danielson and the rest of his family were in New Mexico Tuesday, where they visited the accident site.

Tyler’s mother, Kathy Danielson, said her son was always able to make his friends laugh.

“Tyler, he had this beautiful smile,” she said. “He had so many friends out there who thought the world of him.”

One of Tyler’s closest friends was Cody Burk, of Knoxville, Iowa, who said he talked to Tyler last week about the next time they were going to get together.

“We would always hang out and just do stupid stuff, ride around town on our bikes,” Burk said. “When I heard he was gone, I didn’t know what to say. I still can’t wrap my mind around it.”

Patel, who was driving the vehicle, said the group of friends was on the way to Las Vegas. He said he had become friends with Tyler while they were working together at the Hilton Coliseum.

“We were really good friends, and he was a really nice guy,” Patel said.

Patel said he doesn’t remember the accident, as he was knocked unconscious and woke up in the ambulance. He said one of the last things he remembered before the crash was stopping at a rest station about 10 minutes before the accident occurred.

He said he stopped to wash his face, and Danielson bought him a Red Bull to help him stay awake.

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