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North Laurel community mourning loss of Kole Robinson, praying for Konar's recovery

Posted at 3:17 PM, Sep 21, 2020
and last updated 2020-09-21 18:16:10-04

LONDON, Ky. (LEX 18) — The North Laurel High School community returned from the weekend to the horrible news that one of their classmates died in an accident.

Fifteen-year-old Kole Robinson was killed after being thrown from the ATV he was riding about 8 miles from the school campus.

"Kole was the type of kid who always had a smile on his face. His smile was infectious," said NLHS Principal Mike Black.

Kole played for the junior varsity football team and dressed for the varsity team on Fridays as well.

"Kole was a punisher. He was the running back who would punish the other football team," said head coach Chris Larkey.

Larkey said this has been, and will continue to be, the most challenging thing he's ever had to manage in his 31 years of coaching.

"He was the kind of kid you want you kid to grow up to be. So happy and fun to be around," Larkey said of Robinson.

Larkey had the football team gather on Sunday to pray and comfort one another. And they made a significant call to Kole's brother Konar -- a senior on the football team who was seriously injured in the same accident. He is recovering at the University of Kentucky hospital, where he underwent a splenectomy.

"We got to FaceTime Konar in the hospital, talk to him, see what he looked like, and he got to talk to us," Larkey said. "I think that helped our players a lot and helped Konar a lot."

"The kids are grieving, and they don't understand why life is taken so young, tragically," Black adds of the rest of the students on his campus.

Larkey said the team would hold a 26-second moment of silence before this week's games (Kole wore the number 26). They'd also leave his jersey hanging in his locker while hanging a picture of him on the locker room door. It'll be the last thing they see before heading to the field for kick-off.

"It's going to be tough on them the rest of the week, the rest of the year," Larkey said. "But we definitely want to play the rest of the season for Kole. Kole was an influence on them."