Update April 10

Colton Dufour, the 13-year-old Sequim Middle School student who was seriously injured in a hit-and-run while skateboarding on the night of March 31, is improving, according to his mother, Cherie Tachell.

Tachell emailed the Sequim Gazette Thursday afternoon (April 10) with an update on his condition.

“Colton is able to stand up now and has (his) feeding tube out,” the email stated. “He can talk now but will still need therapy to learn how to walk again and speech and cognitive therapy at Seattle Children’s.”

She added that the seventh grader will be taken off sedation in two-and-a-half days.

The Sequim Police Department plans to provide an update on the case on Friday, April 11.

Previous story from April 2, 2025

Most of the time, sleepovers occur at Colton Dufour’s house, but on Monday, March 31 — the start of Spring Break week — the 13-year-old was given permission by his mother to stay overnight at a friend’s house.

The last time Cherie Tachell spoke with her son that day was when he called to tell her that he and several of his buddies were making a trip to Walmart.

That night, Tachell was in bed when a friend called with news that there had been a hit-and-run.

A car struck Colton while he and three friends were skateboarding in the 600 block of West Spruce Street behind Safeway.

He had a head injury, the friend said, and wasn’t doing well.

Tachell bolted out of bed and was driving to the scene when her phone rang again.

Don’t come to Spruce Street, she was told; go directly to the helipad at Jamestown Family Health Clinic. Colton was going to be flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

“As soon as they said Harborview, I knew it was serious,” Tachell said April 3 from Harborview, where she had remained by her son’s side since her own arrival there late that night. “I didn’t know if he was going to survive.”

At the time she spoke with the Sequim Gazette, Colton was sedated and still unable to communicate with her, she said. He was strapped to his hospital bed because the head injury has caused him to be volatile.

The teen also has a fractured pelvis along with road rash, bruises and other injuries. Doctors told Tachell that her son will likely spend several months at Seattle Children’s Rehabilitation, a Level 1 pediatric trauma rehabilitation center.

The hit-and-run is under active investigation by the Sequim Police Department. Tachell said police are examining “five different cameras.”

It was dark when the crime occurred at around 9 p.m. Colton was struck from behind, Tachell said, and thrown onto a hill. One of his friends threw his bicycle at the fleeing car, she said, and the driver dragged it “down the block.” One boy wrapped a shirt around Colton’s head while the other two ran to get help.

The boys, Tachell said, are traumatized by what happened to their friend.

A seventh grader at Sequim Middle School, Colton loves skateboarding, football and rap music. He is very artistic and is “a jokester,” his mother said. He is a member of Civil Air Patrol.

Show of support

A family friend in Sequim set up a GoFundMe page to raise donations to defray Colton’s medical expenses. The message posted there says the boy “will require numerous surgeries, tests and rehab in order to regain function of the left side of his body.” By April 10, the amount raised was over $24,000.

Donations can be made at https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-colton-dufour-recover-from-hitandrun-attack.

Tachell said she has “a huge support system.” That night at the helipad, she emerged from the ambulance after being allowed to see her son to find both her brothers, her mother and her sister-in-law there.

“They got there really quick, and they told me they were going to drive me over here,” she said, referring to Harborview. During the two-hour drive, those treating Colton kept phoning her, asking how far out she was.

“I think they were trying to prepare me” for the worst outcome, Tachell said.

Kurtis Tachell, Colton’s stepfather, stayed home with the couple’s two daughters, ages 9 and 5. Kurtis is taking care of the girls and the family’s animals while Tachell stays with Colton.

The couple own Niddy Griddy Home Services, LLC, a property management company that manages short-term rentals and provides painting and handyman services. For now, an employee is handling most of the day-to-day work involved in running the company, Tachell said.

Tachell said she is grateful for the outpouring of support from the community.

“The donations are wonderful. The prayers are wonderful,” she said.

The Tachells can be reached via email at pnwclean@yahoo.com. Cherie Tachell can be reached at 360-808-9391.