WILKINSON — When Chase Settergren began his freshman year of high school, he was already working hard to deal with the complications in his life.
“Everything kind of started in eighth grade, actually, right before I was a freshman,” he said one day recently. “My grandpa passed away, and then I actually got diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. I went into freshman year and it was all OK. And then that summer was when Riley got into an accident.”
The accident, in July 2017, happened less than a mile down the road from the Settergren home. Riley, 17, was riding in a pickup truck with two friends, also Eastern Hancock students, when they were hit by a large crop sprayer at a rural intersection. Tall corn stalks next to the road decreased visibility, and the farmer who was driving the machinery couldn’t see the boys’ pickup approaching. Riley died in the collision.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]
“That’s kind of when it all went sideways,” Chase said.
The two brothers had always been close.
“We were best friends since I was born,” Chase said. “He was two years older than me and we always did everything together. We played sports together and we were always competitive, always beating on each other, but we always loved each other… It’s not that I just lost my brother, it’s that I lost my best friend too. That was one of the hardest parts.”
The accident happened on July 26; Chase was scheduled to return to school as a sophomore on Aug. 1. Even though his brother’s funeral had just taken place, Chase decided not to wait.
“I went back because I knew how good of a support system we had at Eastern Hancock and how close everyone was,” he said. “I figured if I didn’t go back at the start, I would miss a lot and not go back that much. I went back, and got a lot of support from Eastern Hancock and all my friends.”
Tammy Settergren, Chase and Riley’s mother, said she has always been proud of the strength her younger son has shown.
“The day of the accident was just complete devastation and shock,” Tammy said. “But then, days later, to see Chase of his own volition write a letter to Riley and stand up at his funeral and read a letter to his best friend, was inspiring… And then two days later, he got up for school, went out on the front porch, got his picture taken just like always.”
For a while, Chase said, he struggled with academics after returning to school. Both teachers and classmates reached out to offer extra help, and he managed to finish the year with all As and Bs.
Teresa Bever, an EH teacher who first had Chase in class as a second grader, was one of the teachers who stepped up.
“When the accident happened and I had Chase in class, I kind of became Tammy and Jay (Settergren)’s contact at school,” Bever said. “I would just kind of pop out and check on him and let him know that if he ever needed anything, I was there for him.”
Tammy and Chase said Bever became an essential part of their support network, almost a member of the family.
“Eastern’s just a different place. We’re a family, we take care of each other,” Bever said.
He also relied on Eastern Hancock’s football team, on which he and Riley had both played on the previous season.
“My sophomore year, I wore Riley’s number — it was 30,” Chase said. “Then, after the season, we retired it, and it’s hanging in the school.”
Landon Stanley, a friend of both Chase and Riley and a fellow player on the football team, was in the car with Riley when the accident happened. Grief, Stanley said, didn’t weaken his and Chase’s friendship.
“If anything, it made our relationship even stronger,” said Stanley, who was injured in the accident. “If one of us needed each other, it didn’t matter what time it was, we were always there for each other.”
Though it was sometimes strange to know that everyone at school was aware of what his family was going through, it was also ultimately helpful.
“After it happened, the accident, I remember hundreds of people coming by and having food and being here for us and everything. Even still, today, we have a bunch of people behind us to catch us if we fall,” Chase said.
While some families grow further apart when faced with a tragedy, the Settergrens came together — both to support one another and to create the Riley Charles Settergren Foundation.
The foundation has awarded thousands of dollars in scholarships to students at county schools so far this year; Chase has been making videos to congratulate the winners since they can’t be awarded in person.
The foundation has also created the “Watch Out” program, distributing signs to mark dangerous intersections and warn drivers and farmers to watch out for each other. The family has also discussed legislation with State Sen. Mike Crider that would enforce rules against growing crops dangerously close to roadways.
“Riley’s accident hasn’t been the only accident related to tall corn,” Tammy said. “Our hope with it is to remind people that it can happen, it happened to Riley 0.8 miles (from our house). He was almost home.”
When the foundation started, Chase was 16 and immediately wanted to be involved. However, he couldn’t be appointed as a board member until he was 18.
“On my birthday, my parents gave me a wonderful surprise of making me the president of the foundation,” Chase said. “…It’s been a blessing doing that, having people get together and remember his life, and it’s really brought our family closer together. The foundation has really made everyone in the community close.”
Like all seniors, Chase has also faced the disruption of the coronavirus pandemic this year, finishing out his high school career via e-learning. Chase, who was on the football, wrestling and track teams in previous years, played only football his senior year.
“I think it affected everyone. I think especially my mom, not getting to watch either of her boys graduate and have an actual graduation, I think that hurt her the most,” Chase said.
Tammy said it’s been both sad and a blessing over the past year to see Chase go through milestones during his senior year that Riley did not get to experience.
“And then when COVID hit, like Chase said, it was hard. Jay and I were looking forward to doing all those things with Chase, because he has persevered. He has overcome the unthinkable,” she said. “We’re just really proud of him.”
Chase plans to attend IUPUI to get a degree in public safety management and then become a firefighter. He has drawn inspiration from his father, a longtime firefighter in the Indianapolis Fire Department.
Jay said the career move makes sense. As a firefighter, he said, he often sees people on the worst day of their life — something Chase would be good at.
“Chase is a unique kid, and I’m not just saying that because he’s my kid,” Jay said. “I think that’s a natural fit for him.”
Nearly three years after Riley’s accident, Chase said he doesn’t think of his brother’s death as something that he’s “overcome.”
“It’s not something you can really overcome. You just deal with it,” Chase said. “I still have that every day in my life. But with the help of everyone at Eastern Hancock, my family, my friends, it’s been hard, but I’ve been getting through it.”
Tammy said she is constantly impressed with how well her son has dealt with the past few years — and so are many other members of the Eastern Hancock community.
“Kids have said that what Chase has gone through and is going through and will forever go through sucks,” Tammy said. But they’re also walked up Jay and I and said, ‘Chase inspires me.’”
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”About this series” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
The is the first in a series of stories about members of the Class of 2020 in Hancock County.
[sc:pullout-text-end]