When Jacob Thibodeau heard that vandals had destroyed a memorial to his late friend, he was spurred to action.

“I just wanted to do something – even if it’s small – to help,” Thibodeau said.

Last month, vandals drove into the front yard of Ted and Colleen Walker, knocking out a small evergreen tree that the family had planted as a memorial to their son, Ryan. The damage was part of a larger swath vandals cut through the neighborhood.

Ryan Walker, who’d been born with a heart and lung defect, died in 2003 at age 17.

The tree had been given to the Walkers on the day of Ryan’s funeral. The family planted it in their front yard and decorated it with red lights.

To the Walkers, it was a symbol of their son’s courage and it gave them comfort as they grieved.

Thibodeau also mourns Ryan’s death.

He grew close to the teen when he worked as a para-educator with Ryan at Free State High School.

For several years, it was Thibodeau’s job to watch over Ryan at school. Thibodeau was trained to listen to Ryan’s breathing. He changed Ryan’s oxygen bottles and monitored his health throughout the school day. If Ryan missed school, Thibodeau would help him catch up.

Thibodeau said his relationship with Ryan changed him.

When people face a terminal illness, they often think they must do the grand things they haven’t been able to do, Thibodeau said, but Ryan had simple goals, like going to school and being with friends.

“Ryan wasn’t dying,” Thibodeau said. “He was living. He just wanted to be a normal kid.”

After Ryan’s death and in part because of his experiences with Ryan, Thibodeau enrolled at Kansas University to become a teacher. He will graduate in May.

“I know losing Ryan was such a loss for the Walkers and for me, too,” he said. “I just wanted to do something.”

Thibodeau, with help from his wife, Samantha, and parents, bought a new tree for the Walkers. He left it at their house with a note.

The Walkers received a second tree from an anonymous donor.

The Walkers will plant the trees in the spring.

“It’s very sweet,” Colleen Walker said. “That tree, it meant a lot to us, but it meant a lot to a lot of people.”