Utah woman gives out glow sticks on Halloween to keep children safe


Save Story

Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

LAYTON — Sunday marks 10 years since a Layton mother lost her son on Halloween night.

Jayden Rathbone, 13, was out trick-or-treating when he was hit by a car that didn't see him on a dark street.

It's a loss Crystal Conover hopes to prevent for other families.

From creepy clowns to scary spiders, Crystal Conover's family goes all out this time of year. And it's not just the decorations that are impressive; it's also the treats, which are more than just candy.

It's all in an effort to make Halloween special for every child that stops by her house.

You see, the holiday is bittersweet for Conover.

"Some lady's kid got hit by a car because he couldn't, like, see him," a trick-or-treater said to Conover as she placed a glow stick around a child's wrist.

"Is that what you guys heard?" said Conover.

"Yeah," the children replied.

"Guess what? That lady is me," said Conover. "That's why I want to make sure you guys are wearing your glow sticks."

On Halloween night in 2011, her 13-year-old son was out trick-or-treating when he was struck by a car.

"They just didn't see him," said Conover. "Ultimately from that, he did pass away."

From the pain of Jayden's loss, Conover found a new purpose.

"We decided to take a negative and turn it into a positive," she said.

One glow stick at a time, Conover hopes to "Help Jayden Light the Way" for other children to make it home safely.

Related stories

Most recent Utah stories

Related topics

Garna Mejia, KSL-TVGarna Mejia

STAY IN THE KNOW

Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Newsletter Signup

KSL Weather Forecast

KSL Weather Forecast
Play button