Ian Jenkins, 15, was injured Thursday in a fall from the back of a friend's pickup truck near the intersection of Eisenhower and Reagan lanes in Milan. Jenkins' death Monday from his injuries has shaken up the town, which has lost three other young men this year.

Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com

UPDATE: Memorials - including games at Compuware Arena - planned this week for fallen hockey player Ian Jenkins

An accident that fatally injured up-and-coming hockey player and Milan student Ian Jenkins, 15, will leave sad memories in the minds of neighbors who lived near the scene.

Jenkins died Monday at the University of Michigan Hospital after suffering head injuries last week in a fall from the back of a friend’s pickup truck.

Walt Knicely, who lives in the Milan neighborhood near the scene of the accident, said the event has shaken up the community.

Knicely said he was at a baseball game in the community over the weekend and was speaking to a boy who went to school with Jenkins.

The boy couldn’t stop crying when talking about how his friend was in the hospital and wasn’t going to make it.

“It just tears me up. It’s terrible,” Knicely said, adding that people around him were wiping away tears while the boy was speaking.

Jenkins, a Milan High School sophomore from Ypsilanti, had just signed a contract with the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League, one of the top junior hockey leagues.

He had most recently been a goalie for the Belle Tire Midget Minor AAU U-16 team, an elite youth level team that competes against some of the best clubs in the nation.

Thursday's accident struck a nerve in a community already hit hard by the deaths of three young men in the last few months.

Jenkins is the fourth Milan High School student to die this school year.

Seniors Eric Harrison and Brian Copaciu both killed themselves earlier in the school year, and junior William Bowers died in December in an accident.

Neighbor Jennifer Dunlap said she drove into the subdivision right after the accident happened Thursday and hurried to tell her husband, Bob, who is a trained first responder. He rushed to Jenkins’ side.

Bob Dunlap and another neighbor then stayed with Jenkins to keep him breathing and held Jenkins' hand until an ambulance arrived.

Jennifer Dunlap said her kids are all young, and Jenkins’ death was a tragic reminder of how quickly lives can change.

“I have boys and I kind of understand what was happening. When you’re 16, you think you’re invincible and nothing’s going to happen,” she said.

Walt Knicely also talked about how neighbors rushed to the scene of the accident Thursday to see what they could do to help.

“It was just so sad, so tragic,” said Walt's wife, Betty Knicely. “He was so young.”

Chris Morgan, who lives down the street from the scene of the accident and attends school in Ypsilanti, said he rides the bus with a lot of students who attend Milan schools. He said it’s been really tough for them dealing with the losses of their classmates.

On Thursday, he watched the first responders trying to save Jenkins' life and is trying to come to grips with what he witnessed.

“When I found out he died, I was like ‘Wow, I actually saw someone die.’” Morgan said. “Seeing an actual person die? It’s hard.”

Meanwhile, Jenkins' family and friends are already finding ways to honor him and his love for hockey.

Mike Hamilton, one of Jenkins’ former coaches and a family friend, said Jenkins’ family is planning an event to remember Jenkins in the way they know he’d appreciate the most — taking to the ice and playing a few periods of hockey.

Hamilton said there would be two games played, but times and dates have not been finalized. In order to get involved in the event, you can email Hamilton.

“We will have friends, family, teammates and coaches play a few periods in his honor,” Hamilton said in a statement.

“Crying will not be allowed in the ice rink, we are hockey players!”

Jenkins’ family is also planning to start a foundation in Jenkins’ honor, Hamilton said.

Kyle Feldscher covers K-12 education for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.