Luke Pennington
Cherohala – A 19-year-old man passed away from injuries sustained in a June 16 motorcycle accident on the Cherohala Skyway.
According to a report from the N.C. Highway Patrol, Luke Henry Pennington was the sole rider on a 2005 Harley Davidson that was traveling south on N.C. 143 near mile marker 10 when the bike left the roadway and entered a ditch line. The Harley soon made contact with a concrete drain grate, after which Pennington was ejected off the motorcycle and struck a roadside sign. The Harley slid for a short distance before coming to a stop.
The accident itself was believed to have taken place around 4:30 p.m. Pennington was pronounced dead at the scene; the Highway Patrol’s report noted that Pennington was wearing a DOT-compliant helmet.
A resident of Greenbrier, Tenn. (a Nashville suburb), a Facebook search found that Pennington graduated from Greenbrier High School in 2021 and was a 4.0 student at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.
Pennington would have turned 20 on July 10.
Greenbrier Nutrition indicated in a Friday post that 20 percent of the proceeds from all sales Tuesday would be going to Pennington’s family.
“He wanted to make the world a better place. Luke was one of the sweetest souls anyone could meet and always knew how to light up a room,” read a portion of the post. “He always had a smile on his face and strived to make others happy.”
A celebration of life was held Saturday at Parkway Baptist Church in Goodlettsville, Tenn.