Musician struck, killed on 2 Freeway had just completed chemotherapy
The 23-year-old man who was killed Sunday after he was struck by two cars as he crossed the 2 Freeway had recently returned to school after a year of chemotherapy, his mother said.
“He was really inspired and charged,” Shelley Buck said of her son, Ryder. “He was feeling the best he’s ever felt about his life. He was as happy as I think he’s ever been.”
Ryder Buck of La Cañada Flintridge was standing near the 2 Freeway’s center divider just north of Fern Lane about 5:25 a.m. when, for unknown reasons, he walked into traffic, California Highway Patrol Officer Tom Miller told the Glendale News-Press.
He was struck by the two vehicles and pronounced dead a few hours later at Huntington Memorial Hospital, Miller said.
One of the drivers was moderately injured in the incident.
Authorities are unsure why Buck, who was a musician and a 2008 graduate from La Cañada High School, walked across the freeway, Miller said. No vehicle or other form of transportation was found near the scene.
His mother described him as a “calm and happy person” who used music as a form of therapy when he was diagnosed with testicular cancer last year.
Buck had recently returned to school at the Musicians Institute in Hollywood after a year of chemotherapy, she added.
As a singer and songwriter, he performed at several venues in the area.
“He just wanted to share his gifts,” his mother said. “He was just spreading love through music. I just felt like he had so much more to do and give.”
An autopsy had yet to be performed Tuesday, said Los Angeles County Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter.
An investigation into the incident by the California Highway Patrol is ongoing.
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Twitter: @LATiffanyKelly
Tiffany Kelly is a Times Community News staff writer.
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