‘Kindhearted,’ active boy remembered

The night 12-year-old Shane Rooney was fatally struck by a car, Sandy

Cooke was telling her son what a good friend he had in Shane.

“He’s kindhearted, and always stuck by you,” Cooke said.

Now, family and friends, like Cooke have come together to show their

kindness and support to Shane’s family.

Family and friends of Shane, who died Jan. 28 after being hit by a

car, have set up a memorial fund to help the Huntington Beach family with

the medical and funeral expenses.

On Jan. 18, the boy was hit by an alleged drunk driver while standing

with his scooter talking to a friend on Trident Lane in Huntington Beach.

Joy L. Kennelly, 44, of Huntington Beach, was arrested on suspicion of

drunk driving after hitting Shane with her 1996 Ford Mustang, knocking

him onto the hood and then to the ground.

Shane suffered critical head injuries and was sent to UCI Medical

Center. After 10 days in a coma, he died at the hospital on Jan. 28.

“It’s such a tragic thing to have lost someone who had so much

potential,” said Principal Kathy Bihr at Valley View Middle School where

Shane attended.

Bihr remembers the energetic boy as having a lot of charisma. The

seventh-grader was active in local youth sports, including Little League

and Pop Warner football.

The accident was not the first that Shane encountered. About a month

earlier, Shane survived another alleged drunk driving accident on the way

to a weekend competition in Needles, near the Arizona border.

Barrett Brown, a 35-year-old Pee Wee coach for the city’s Pop Warner

football chapter, was arrested by the California Highway Patrol after his

1995 Isuzu Rodeo overturned on a highway Dec. 1, five miles outside the

California city, authorities said.

Brown, a Cypress resident, was carrying three boys between 11 and 12

years old, to a postseason football consolation game in Laughlin, Nev.

Shane had slipped out of his seat belt and was thrown through the

window of the sport utility vehicle after the glass had popped out. Brown

and the three boys suffered bruises and scratches. No one was seriously

hurt in the accident. They were treated at Needles Desert Communities

Hospital and released that day.

So far, family and friends of the Rooneys raised $4,000 at a carwash

held Saturday.

Donations to the Shane Rooney Memorial Fund can be made at the U.S.

Bank, 9042 Garfield Ave., Huntington Beach, CA 92648.

Anyone interested in helping or for more information, call Sandy at

(714) 965-0216.