My Son Cavan

Five years ago today, Bob and I were at Shand's Hospital in Gainesville, FL, gathered there with many of Cavan's friends and Lauren's family. On that Sunday afternoon, I was previously shopping at Michael's Craft Store when I received the phone call on my cell phone from someone at Shand's telling me that Cavan had had a motorcycle accident and that we needed to get to the hospital as soon as we could. Bob and I packed a bag and drove from Sarasota to Gainesville where we met Lauren's family and many of Cavan's friends from Jacksonville where he and Lauren were living at the time. We found out that Cavan had been at a practice race on a track in Jennings, FL. I talked to him the night before and he told me he had finished building a motorcycle to race. No one saw the accident, but according to Cavan's friend Dale, who was on the racetrack with Cavan, he and Cavan were trying to get around a pack of racers and Dale had gotten around them. When he looked back, Cavan had disappeared. The race ended and he couldn't find Cavan. After searching awhile himself, he finally got an official to get people together to start a search. Cavan was found "deep in the woods" that surrounded the race track. He was flown by helicopter to Shand's Hospital in Gainesville and the family was called. We saw Cavan and he laid peacefully in a bed, looking like he was sleep. We all kept vigil that night in a waiting room. The next day, we all met with doctors in a large conference room. Lots of Cavan's friends and family were in the conference room and the doctor's were surprised at how many of us were there. The doctors told us that tests had been run and that there was no brain activity. They said he probably hit a tree and died instantly. Cavan was an organ donor and his liver and kidneys were given to recipients that afternoon. Cavan lives on in DeWayne and Michael!