If you’re a regular at With Leather, you know the deep, lasting love we have for Connor Michalek, aka ‘Stone Crusher,’ aka ‘Connor The Crusher,’ the little boy who didn’t let brain cancer stop him from tapping out WWE World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan, cheering the champ on to victory at WrestleMania 30 and just generally being everything right with pro wrestling fandom. Connor passed away a little over a month ago and was honored by WWE with one of the most touching, heart-wrenching videos ever shared.
The good news is that Connor isn’t being forgotten. Just yesterday, Connor’s Pittsburgh-area elementary school got together to celebrate the Stone Crusher’s life, build him a memorial — a stone, no less — and hug him with whatever they’ve got, wherever he is. Via CBS Pittsburgh:
On Thursday, 8–year-old Connor Michalek was remembered at Wyland Elementary School.
There was a tearful and emotional moment of silence, followed by a giant hug for a brave little boy.
“Well, we went around the tree and we gave him a hug and we always remember him,” first grader Griff Jarrell said.
If that’s not heartbreaking enough, the story has lines like this:
“It makes me feel sad, but I’m still happy because I know he’s in a good place now,” first grader Olivia Angelo said.
First grader. God, first graders should never have to say things like that.
Here’s a video of the story from the local news that features a shot of Connor’s stone, thoughts from some kids and faculty and footage of him playing baseball. I know the video looks crazy tiny, but you can thank local news embed codes for that. It’s a great video, so I’d recommend hitting play and then making it full screen. If that doesn’t work, I’ll try to get in a better video as soon as one becomes available.
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We’re never gonna forget you, Stone Crusher.
