SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - Loved ones are remembering a Torrey Pines High School student and star tennis player killed this week in a fiery crash in Carmel Valley.
Along Carmel Canyon Road, there is a collection of flowers, placed there as a tribute to a young life cut short.
“Words can't describe how difficult it is to lose someone,” said Nikita Pereverzin.
Two days later, a brother remains mired in grief.
Nikita Pereverzin is mourning the death of his little brother, 17-year-old Anton.
“It’s just devastation. It’s like a big part of us—and who we are—has been taken so suddenly and without any warning,” said Pereverzin.
On Tuesday afternoon, Anton Pereverzin, a junior at Torrey Pines High and one of the top-ranked junior tennis players in San Diego County, had just left tennis practice and was just a half-mile from home on Carmel Canyon Road, when police say he made an unsafe movement to the right, his Lexus SUV striking a curb and a tree. Anton died at the scene.
“This experience is absolutely crushing,” said Pereverzin.
Pereverzin calls the accident a complete shock because his brother was known as a safe driver. He says his brother was ‘very good-hearted’ and loved to read and write.
“Super energetic and very funny. I always left a conversation with him with a smile,” said Pereverzin.
And of course, there was his tennis and the countless hours of practice.
“He found a joy and a passion in tennis that a lot of people work their entire lives and still don’t find,” said Pereverzin.
Anton hoped to compete on the collegiate level. Those hopes for the future came to an end on a busy road.
“One of the things we could take away is just the importance of safety and the importance of staying vigilant on the road because it could happen to anyone. I don't want anyone else to go through this tragedy,” said Pereverzin.
The investigation into the crash is ongoing. Nikita says his family hopes to memorialize Anton in some way, possibly with a scholarship or tennis tournament. A Gofundme campaign has been set up to help with those efforts and his memorial service.
