UPDATE:

Visitation will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Kennesaw United Methodist Church in the Elton Adams classroom. A memorial service will be held Wednesday at Kennesaw Untied Methodist Church at 5 p.m. In lieu of flowers, the Kohler family requests donations to be sent to the Georgia 4-H Foundation for the Jekyll Island 4-H Center. To make a donation on behalf of Matthew Kohler.

22-year-old Sequoyah High School graduate died from severe injuries after being hit by a car while riding his bike Thursday near his home in Pooler on the outskirts of Savannah.

Matthew Kohler was hit by an elderly man around 11:30 a.m. on U.S. Highway 80 in Bloomingdale, said Sgt. Ben Forehand with the Georgia State Patrol.

Kohler was taken to Memorial University Medical Center in Savannah with severe head trauma and a broken neck, where he later died.

Early reports could not confirm whether the accident was a hit-and-run, but Forehand said that was not the case

“An elderly gentleman struck him,” Forehand said Friday. “He claimed he didn’t know what he struck at the time and pulled off the road three-quarters of a mile down.”

Forehand said the man was looking for a safe place to pull off of the road and assess the damage to his vehicle, not attempting to leave the scene.

Kohler was riding alone and Forehand said he could not confirm where he was headed.

Trudy Christopher, a 4-H county extension agent in Cherokee County, said her son, Ross, was best friends with Kohler, whose wedding to wife Kori they attended just last month in St. Simons. She said the couple met in college at Georgia Southern University.

“At their rehearsal dinner, Ross said he was the friend that you could go a few months and not see and pick right back up where you started,” Christopher said.

Judy Haygood, an administrative assistant with the county 4-H program, said Kohler was involed in 4-H beginning in fifth grade. H ran for the organization’s state board and worked summers as a 4-H counselor.

“Matthew was a sweetheart,” Haygood said. “He was always the lively one of the bunch.”

Christopher described Kohler as a dedicated friend and wonderful son to his parents Debbie and Andy Kohler, both teachers in the Cherokee County School District.

“Nothing’s going to take his place,” Christopher said. “He was their world.”

As of Friday afternoon, arrangements for Kohler had not been finalized.