Tragedy Strikes Well-Known Boxing Family

On Friday, June 20, Adalaide Byrd, Nevada Boxing judge and wife of World Boxing Hall of Fame Referee, Robert Byrd, received a call that her youngest brother, Aaron Tyndale, 44, of Pennsylvania had been in a terrible motor vehicle accident and his condition was grave.

Tyndale had been traveling from Virginia to his home in Philadelphia when his vehicle was run off the road by a tractor-trailer on I-95 in Delaware. Eyewitnesses claim that Tyndale’s vehicle rolled over several times.

Byrd’s brother was able to speak briefly after the accident, but shortly after went into cardiac arrest and was taken to Christiana Hospital in Newark, Delaware. As a result of the accident, Aaron Tyndale suffered several severe head injuries and was pronounced brain dead at 4:50 AM on Saturday, June 21.

Tyndale’s wishes were to be an organ donor, so at that time the family gave permission for his organs to be removed. Mr. Tyndale led a healthy lifestyle and six of his organs were perfectly healthy and viable for transplant.

Adalaide Byrd was proud of her youngest brother. “He accomplished so much in his 44 years, and he lived the life of a 75-year old man,” passionately emphasized the Nevada boxing judge.

Tyndale had been in the Air Force for 22 years and retired as a Senior Master Sergeant. He wanted to keep busy after his retirement, according to Byrd, so he had recently obtained a government job in Virginia from which he was traveling back home from on the day of the accident. He had only had the job for 3 weeks.

Members of the boxing fraternity had the opportunity to meet Aaron Tyndale in late May of 2007 at the IBF convention in Miami, Florida, which he attended with his sister and brother-in-law.

Just this past May, the Byrd’s spent a few days with Tyndale who visited them in Nevada to celebrate their daughter’s graduation from University of Nevada in Las Vegas. “It seems that certain events, good times, have led up to this moment,” warmly added Mrs. Byrd.

Tyndale not only had a great impact on the lives his family, but also on those of his friends. Along with family members, several of Tyndale’s longtime friends, some of which Adalaide Byrd did not even know, rushed to the hospital after the accident and stayed to support the family through the ordeal.

“At one point,” Byrd fondly recollects, “a friend of his, Scott, told us how his 21-year old son would use not having proper clothes as an excuse to not go out and get a job. Well my brother got the young man 20 pairs of pants and dress shirts and some shoes, and told him not to use clothing as an excuse any more. That is just the kind of person he was. He had a big heart. We couldn’t have asked for a better brother.”

Adalaide Byrd’s adoration for her brother, Aaron, pours out of her when she so lovingly speaks of him. From her words, her stories, her memories of Mr. Aaron Tyndale it is apparent that his family, friends, acquaintances and even society lost someone who had a lot to offer in life all too soon.

Aaron Tyndale was the youngest of five siblings. He is survived by his three sisters Faith, Dawn and Adalaide, his brother Mark and his mother, Beatrice Tyndale. Funeral arrangements for Mr. Tyndale have been made for Saturday, June 28 with a viewing from 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM and the service following at 11:00 AM at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church, located at 1030 N. 48th St in Philadelphia.

Aaron Tyndale will be buried with full military honors on Saturday, August 5, at Arlington National Ceremony in Arlington, Virginia.