by Kila Steck

To our friends in the harness racing industry:

Trying to say thank you to everyone who called, texted, posted on the internet, sent flowers or prayed for us at the time of our son Ryder Steck’s death, seems impossible. The love and compassion we have felt from our entire industry has been so very overwhelming and amazing.

It is true that when something tragic happens you find out who your friends are and we are honored to have so many in this business that we can call our friends. While not all of you may have personally known Ryder, you reached out to our family with such care and compassion, at a time when we needed it most.

We do not have answers as to why Ryder didn’t make it, his doctors are still unsure. All we do know is that we had 18 years, one month and 14 days with an incredible young man that we were blessed to call our son.

Our pain is unimaginable and something we will carry with us forever, but please believe us when we say that we have felt your prayers, text messages, and Facebook posts from the beginning of this tragedy. The pictures Rob Pennington posted on Hambo day truly touched our hearts and brought smiles to our faces during such a tragic time.

We have said numerous times that trying to say thank you for something like this seems so small, we can only hope that each of you will feel our heartfelt thanks and truly realize how much we appreciate all the love and support.

Although we know the days ahead are sure to be harder than the days behind us, we know that it is your prayers and the love our industry has shown us that has moved us forward this far. We will continue to move forward with your love and support with every passing day because that is what Ryder would want us to do.

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you again.

Ron, Kila, Parker and Ranger Steck and the entire family of Ryder Wilson Steck