The Helicopters Blades

Hearing the echo of a helicopters blades during the middle of the night is haunting; especially,
for a small town like Camden, South Carolina. When something bad happens, it doesnt take long for
everyone to find out. August was no different. Word of a fatal accident spread quickly. It was in this
accident that I lost my friend and teammate, Drew David. This was not the first loss for the class of 2016,
nor would it be the last.
In the aftermath of losing one of my best friends, I faced adversity within my close-knit
community. The adversity of the question, why? Why did God let this happen? The why was
especially difficult for those of us who were his football teammates. At every practice, Drews absence
was painfully present. At every home game, stood his mother, next to mine, on the field holding her
sons empty helmet.
After Drews death, our community seemed broken. After learning that Drew saved nine lives
through organ donation, I realized that the best way to honor Drew was to move forwardas he had
helped nine others do.
As the season progressed, I adopted a different attitudean attitude of this will not break us. I
began telling my teammates and peers that coming together and giving all is what Drew would want us
to do. Instead of feeling sorry for ourselves, we should honor Drew by playing for himespecially in our
last year in gold and black. As difficult as it was, I went against my peers to prove to them that we were
not broken.
For the remainder of the season, we played for Drew. After every touchdown, I raised four fingers to
the sky in remembrance. The referees often called penalties on my tribute, but I still continued.
As the season came to an end, the togetherness of Camden and neighboring communities moved
me in a way Ill never forget. Everyone came to Zemp Stadium to show the love and support that our
school and team needed. When our rival team, Hartsville, honored Drew by painting the number four on
their field goal, I knew our community would heal.
A week after our season ended, the helicopter came for another one of my teammates. On this night
it was my teammate and good friend, Sterling Felder. It was dj vu as I walked behind closed hospital
doors to say one final goodbye to my teammate.
There will be three empty chairs at my high school graduation. And yet, as a Christian, I still believe in
Gods plan for us and we will get through this together.
This year adversity was personified as a helicopter flying overhead. This year Camden personified
compassion because we never stopped supporting the David and Felder families. The power of my
community has impacted me so much that Im continuing my football career as a walk-on at South
Carolina. I want to make my hometown as proud of me as I am proud of it.