Madison Reporter

The Madison West boys soccer team honored their team captain who was one of three area students that died tragically in a car accident.

The team paid tribute to their captain, Simon Bilessi, at the Big Eight Conference match-up against Beloit Memorial on Oct. 5, according to Madison State Journal.

“He just made everyone feel good, and that they were worth something, they were worth a part of the team,” Bilessi's soccer coach said in an NBC15 video.

The tribute included a round of applause to honor Bilessi, who wore No. 13 jersey, the Madison State Journal reported.

“He didn’t light up a room, he lit up your life,” Ben John, technical director of Rush said, told by NBC15. “The deep sense of gratitude he had for everything. He was really present. For a 13, 14, 15 year old to go moment by moment and be so grateful is not something you see.”

NBC15 reports that a GoFundMe has been set up to donate to the family members of the three that died in the crash.

“He just made everybody feel welcome,” Coach Jon Szczepanski said, told by NBC15. “He just had that infectious personality and the way he made you feel... it was something you saw as it went on he was special that way he had a way of bringing people together and his smile lit everything up, his personality lit everything up.”