Community Mourns Death of High School Student
[gtxvideo vid=”SwmHCb5m” playlist=”” pid=”rkijshg2″ thumb=”http://player.gtxcel.com/thumbs/SwmHCb5m.jpg” vtitle=”CAMDEN HS DEATH”]
CAMDEN, S.C. (WOLO) — ” We’ve all loved him so much because he was a fun guy and is a good guy to be around,” says CHS Baseball Coach Denny Beckley. “You can’t stay mad at him he was just a great great guy,” says CHS Football Coach Jimmy Neal. Faculty and staff at Camden High School are mourning and remembering the life of rising football and baseball player Drew David. According to Kershaw County Coroner David West, the 17 year old died early Thursday morning from injuries sustained when he was ejected from a vehicle in a crash Monday night. According to Beckley,”We’ve all had our grieving moments and had our break down points. When the doctors told us to go in and say our goodbyes, the next ten of fifteen minutes were absolutely miserable.” As word of the accident spread, the Camden community rallied around Drew’s family, showing its true colors. “Small town you know, small high school, it’s amazing the support, people that flooded the hospital, there’s a lot of people that care, it matters,” says Neal. With football practice in full swing, coaches are now working with Drew’s teammates to cope with the devastating loss. According to Neal,”Every player is different, everybody’s different everybody responds differently. People have missed practice, some have kind of walked off and gone to the fence and just kind of prayed to themselves.” Coaches are encouraging players to take comfort in knowing that Drew will be saving the lives of seven others as an organ donor and reminding that looking for the silver lining is something that Drew would have wanted. “We’re all telling Drew stories and laughing and grieving in a positive way which is the way he would have been too,” says Beckley. “We’re going to come out of this as a family, and we’re going to continue to be a family,” says Neal. School officials say they’ll have counselors on hand when students return.
