On the day I visited (02/09/2019) Paige's memorial, the bike was still decorated for Christmas. Red and gold garland around the tires and handle bars, red and gold balls hung from the tires and other decorations were on the bike.
This memorial was difficult for me. All the other Ghost Bike Memorials that I have visited were merely bikes honoring victims of bicycle deaths. This one had two photos of the young lady who was killed...
Paige Balinski Killed in Bicycle Accident in Crosby, TX
IN CAR ACCIDENTS — 6 JUN, 2016
Texas Car Accident News
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CROSBY, TX (06/04/2016) — Paige Balinski is on life support following a hit and run accident that occurred in the early hours of Saturday morning.
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office has identified 23-year-old Paige Balinski as the victim of a hit-and-run bicycle crash that occurred in the 14800 block of FM 2100 in Crosby, Texas.
Police reported that at around 2:00 a.m., Balinski and a friend were biking home from Applebee’s, when a white 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee rear-ended her.
The driver of the Jeep fled the scene without rendering aide, leaving Balinski in a ditch.
Balinski was critically injured and was transported to Memorial Hermann Hospital, where she is currently on life support. According to reports, the family says Balinski is being kept on life support so that her organs can be donated to someone in need.
As of Monday, it was reported that Harris County Sheriff’s deputies located a white Jeep Grand Cherokee which matches the description of the SUV. The vehicle has been towed from a home in Crosby, Texas.
Music Scene Mourns the Loss of Superfan Paige Balinski
JESSE SENDEJAS JR. | JUNE 13, 2016
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As multiple Houston news sources reported last week, Paige Balinski was bicycling to her Crosby-area home in the early morning hours of Saturday, June 4 when she was struck and killed by a motor vehicle. The driver of the vehicle, believed to be a white Jeep Cherokee authorities have seized, fled the scene and remains at large as of this writing. Anyone with information leading to that person is urged to contact the Harris County Sheriff’s office.
According to friends, Balinski planned to spend that Saturday night the way she’d spent many others, by attending a live-music event in Houston. I can report this with some degree of confidence since Paige was a supportive friend of my son’s band. She was supposed to be at the group’s tour kickoff show that night with dozens of acquaintances she’s made from the Houston music scene. Instead, those people flooded Facebook with condolences for Balinski’s family and loved ones.
The television news presents the facts in a tragedy such as this. In the days following the hit-and-run, Houstonians became familiar with Balinski’s face and the terrible incident that took her life. What they may not know is the 23-year old was a devoted supporter of local music, just one of the many other things she was besides an image in a 20-second news blurb. Parents lost a daughter and friends lost a cherished confidante. I met Paige a time or two and she was a vivacious person. She bundled up massive energy in a small frame and shared it with those who joined her to enjoy the gift of music.
People who knew Balinski better than I can tell you more about her in the paragraphs to follow. Her passing does give us some insight into some noteworthy matters. Foremost, Balinski was giving and thoughtful enough to become an organ donor. She remained on life support as the critical work associated with donorship unfolded. According to Donate Life America, more than 120,000 Americans await donor transplants and daily 22 patients die awaiting donations. Follow this link to the national organ donor registry for more information.
Concerning music, every act from superstars to budding locals, owes a debt to someone like Balinski. Routinely, she showed up, liked what she heard, told her friends, and kept coming back. She transitioned from music fan to honored friend for many. As a fan, she validated others’ dreams, which is a kind act. No band ever grows without people like Paige behind them. It feels right to express just how much these bands appreciated that from her, and how much I did, as father of a working musician in one of those bands. It’s little or no solace to her loved ones today, I’m sure, but maybe someday they’ll treasure one of the gifts she gave to others, the encouragement and friendship she offered to Houston’s musicians.