Jordan was a 9 year old boy that was full of life, and love. He was gifted academically, and very active in sports. He had just played his first season of tackle football. Jordan had just completed 3rd Grade and was maturing very quickly.
This young man was already questioning what he wanted to do with his life. We had just had a conversation about his goals in life of becoming a football player for the Pittsburgh Steelers, as well as a career in the military, or a scientist. Most would think this was a very young age to be having this conversation but in so many ways he was as mature as a 13 year old.
Jordan's life was cut short during a family vacation in Davenport, Florida. We rented a home with a pool, and his Grandma and a couple of cousins came down from Georgia to spend the week with us. Our second evening there after dinner is when Jordan either jumped or fell in the pool, hitting the back of his head. He was unconscious, not breathing, and had no pulse when we pulled him out.
We performed CPR and the medics got him to a hospital as quickly as they could. Once they got him stabilized, they transferred him to Arnold Palmer Hospital. Unfortunately, they were unable to do anything for our son. In less than 24 hours, we learned that our son was 90% brain dead.
Ray (his father) and I knew immediately that we wanted to donate whatever organs they could use of Jordan's. With his donation, he was able to help 4 people. We knew that his body could no longer live on, but the least we could do was help others.
It took me a few weeks with talking to some other mom's as well as teachers to try to figure out what we wanted to do to keep Jordan's memory alive. I first thought I wanted to focus on pool safety. However, I knew by doing that I would continue to focus on his death. I couldn't bear the thought at the time to keep living those days over and over again.
After several meetings and conversations we decided to focus on his life! Jordan loved sports. He was in Tae Kwon Do and soccer at the age of 4. From there he also played flag football, baseball, basketball, and football. He loved all sports and he was good at them. Jordan was also very gifted academically. We decided that we would offer scholarships in football his #1 passion, any sport, and academics. We ask that kids write essays according to their grade level expectations as to why the sport, academic needs was important to them. What they thought it would do for them in life and why they were passionate about it . Most importantly we wanted in their words!
Foundation 15 was established October of 2014 and Imagine South Vero Charter where Jordan went to school has continued to support Foundation 15 and our family each and every day. The staff and families there have been there for us through it all. Many residents in Indian River County, some that knew him and some that don't have been there for us as well. We are grateful for everyone's support and look forward to becoming more involved in our school and community.
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