Lynn brother struck by truck dies

LYNN – A 21-year-old Lynn man died Saturday, three days after he and his twin brother were struck by a Hummer while crossing the street outside their Lynn home.Dillon McManus never regained consciousness after the accident, and by Friday night, doctors declared him brain dead, according to friends of the McManus family.Because Dillon McManus is an organ donor, doctors kept him on life support Saturday while they harvested his organs to potentially help save other lives, according to Steve Rosenbaum, a family friend who has known Dillon McManus and his twin brother, Riley, since they were born.”Today is the hardest day because the process of removing his organs and keeping him as healthy as possible while in a brain-dead state to remove those organs is very difficult to watch and to see,” Rosenbaum said Saturday. Doctors removed him from life support after they finished, and Dillon McManus officially died, Rosenbaum said.Riley McManus is still fighting for his life after spending five hours in surgery Saturday to repair a lung punctured by his rib and a shattered hip and pelvis, Rosenbaum said. Rosenbaum said it could take months or years of surgery to completely repair Riley McManus’ injuries, though he is expected to survive.Rosenbaum said Riley McManus has been in a medically induced coma since the accident, and although he can’t speak, he does hear and respond to friends and family.”They’ll say ?Wiggle your toes,’ he’ll wiggle them, or ?Blink your eyes,’ he’ll blink them,” Rosenbaum said.Dillon and Riley McManus were struck outside their 701 Boston St. home by a 2003 Hummer driven by Angela Okenkwo, 36, of Lynn, at 11:01 p.m. Wednesday, according to Lynn Police Lt. Christopher Kelly.Kelly said Thursday police have not pressed charges but continue to investigate the accident. On Saturday, Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy, who is familiar with the investigation, said she believes the accident was just that.”It doesn’t sound like there was anything except bad timing and a dark night,” she said.Rosenbaum said the boys’ parents are “devastated” at the loss of one of their sons and the severe injuries of another.”There’s no real healing for the McManus’, the dread they feel as Riley recovers to communicate to him what happens to Dillon,” he said.Dillon McManus was a lively boy who loved metal rock, XBox and his family’s church, the Boston Church of Christ, Rosenbaum said.”He was always an earthy and relatable kid,” he said.Rosenbaum said the boys, who are 2011 graduates of Lynn Classical High School, were studying at North Shore Community College. They had stepped out Wednesday night to get a bite to eat when Okenkwo struck them. He said Dillon and Riley McManus were close.”Just how the accident happened tells you a lot: They were walking together late at night to get a bite to eat, they were just spending time, is all they were doing,” Rosenbaum said.The boys’ parents, Colleen and Jerry, are leaning on their strong Christian faith as they grieve, said family friend Mark Whittier, who is an elder at the Boston Church of Christ.”The seriousness in which the McManus family takes their relationship with God is something that’s throughout the week and not just reserved for a couple hours on a Sunday,” he said.But Whittier and Rosenbaum said no words can describe the pain the family is going through.”It’s just a shocking thing,” Whittier said.School Committee member Charlie Gallo said the School Department would provide grief counselors today at Lynn Classical.Amber Parcher can be reached at [email protected].