Nipomo teen who died after Highway 166 crash was awarded diploma while on life support
Just weeks before he was due to graduate from Lopez High School, Shiloh Delgadillo was fatally electrocuted after he crashed his car into a telephone pole on Highway 166.
Delgadillo, 18, got out of the vehicle and stepped onto a downed power line. The shock cut off the oxygen to his brain — landing the Nipomo teenager on life support at Marian Regional Medical Center in Santa Maria for nearly two weeks.
The teenager was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash, according to the CHP.
Although he wasn’t able to complete the one summer class he needed to earn his diploma, Delgadillo died a high school graduate.
While he was in the hospital following the crash, which took place June 5, the comatose teen was visited by Lucia Mar Unified School District Superintendent Paul Fawcett, board president Don Stewart and other district representatives who came bearing a bittersweet gift: Delgadillo’s diploma.
“Losing a child is the most difficult experience a parent can go through,” Fawcett told The Tribune on Monday. “Presenting Shiloh with his diploma was the right thing to do and hopefully, even if momentarily, his family was able to experience the sense of pride and joy that comes with seeing your child graduate.”
Much of the pomp and circumstance of a traditional graduation ceremony took place in that hospital room.
According to Delgadillo’s sister Alondra Banks, the district representatives were wearing their black graduation robes and nurses had dressed Delgadillo in his own gown.
One of Delgadillo’s brothers held his graduation cap, she said, and after the district representatives gave their commencement speeches, that brother moved the tassel from one side of the cap to the other to symbolize that Delgadillo had graduated.
Then, they held out Delgadillo’s hand and put his diploma in the hospital bed with him.
“It was one of his biggest goals to graduate high school because he’s always had trouble with school,” Banks told The Tribune. “We were able to tell him, you know, ‘You’ve graduated.’ ”
Days later, on June 17, Delgadillo died from his injuries.
Banks said that she felt “extremely proud” of her brother during the bittersweet ceremony.
“But also emotional,” she said, “the fact that we wouldn’t be able to fully celebrate with him the way we would have wanted to.”
Funeral services for Delgadillo will be held on Wednesday and Thursday in Nipomo and are open to the public.
This story was originally published June 22, 2021 at 12:55 PM.
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