Family of boy hit, killed in Hinsdale sub shop crash launches Love Like Sean foundation

HINSDALE, Ill. (WLS) -- The family of a 14-year-old boy who was killed in a car crash outside of a Hinsdale car wash launched the Love Like Sean foundation in his name.

Sean Richards would have turned 15 on Sunday. His family said they will celebrate his birthday with a cookie cake and his favorite wings, just like he would have wanted.

"Everybody loved Sean, and Sean loved everybody," Sean Richards' father Brian Richards said. "[His hugs] were not like the little one-armed hugs, they were full-throated two arm squeezes."

Sean Richards was struck and killed in July after a teenage employee from Fuller's Car Wash hit the accelerator instead of the brake, according to police. Sean's mother was on her way to pick him up, when she witnessed the incident.

RELATED: Family of 14-year-old killed in crash involving vehicle from Fuller's Hinsdale car wash file lawsuit

"I saw him on the other side of the sidewalk laying there," Kristine Richards said. "I ran to him and I just kept telling him help is on the way."

As she held her dying son, she repeatedly told him "I love you."

His family still grappling with his loss and the eerie quiet in their home ever since he passed.

"When we get up in the morning we think 'what can we do today to honor Sean?' and when we go to bed at night we think, 'did we do enough today to honor Sean?'" Brian Richards said.

Thursday, the parents launched the Love Like Sean foundation, to keep doing what their son did best.

"We want to spread the word of what it means to 'Love Like Sean,'" Brian Richards said. "We want to spread the love and the joy to world that Sean would have done had he had the opportunity."

Sean's favorite toy was Beanie Babies. His parents partnered with the toy maker Ty Corporation to distribute toys to children at his school and hospitals.

Outside their home, the family collected children's winter clothes, gear and toys to donate to the Migrant Ministry in Oak Park.

"It's painful but it's all we can do, and if we can bring love to anyone it's worth it," Kristine Richards said.

The couple said they continue to learn what it's like to live without their son, but hope the foundation will make easier.

"I hoped that he would be proud of us and he would know how much we love him," Brian Richards said. "That's all, I love you buddy."

Sean's family said they have plans to launch a scholarship in his name.

To help the Love Like Sean foundation click here.