Cathy Osten

Irwin Family Joins Senator Osten for Ceremonial Signing of ‘Conor’s Law’ in State Capitol

Mom Holly, dad Whit and sister Gretchen Irwin of Ledyard joined state Senator Cathy Osten (D-Sprague) today for a ceremonial bill signing in the State Capitol of Senate Bill 290, better known as ‘Conor’s Law,” which requires children under 15 years old to wear helmets while riding a skate board, while roller-skating or inline skating

The bill was introduced earlier this year by Sen. Osten and Mrs. Irwin in memory of her son Conor, an accomplished student-athlete who died at the age of 14 following an accidental fall from his skateboard.

“The meaning of this bill today is that my son will eternally go on helping others to stay safe,” Mrs. Irwin said, recalling Conor’s nature of always helping those in need. “He will never be forgotten.”

At the March 5 public hearing on the bill, Ms. Irwin told the life story of Conor, an active student-athlete who played many sports and who always wore a variety of helmets, but did not wear one when skateboarding, in part because it was not required by law. He died in December 2016, 10 days after suffering a head injury following a fall from his skateboard.

Today, the Irwin family and several of Conor’s friends attended the bill-signing ceremony in the governor’s office in the State Capitol.

“The Irwins deserve a lot of credit for turning their tragedy into something positive for the people of Connecticut, something positive and fitting in Conor’s memory that they should be very proud of,” Sen. Osten said.