A fine young Texan sent me this article in reference to the tragedy at Texas
A&M.
The Twelfth Man
The twelve young people who died were truly remarkable kids. They were
scholars, student athletes, active in Boy Scouts, 4-H, Church groups,
they were leaders. If you had to chose a dozen students to represent the
best of Texas A&M, you probably wouldn't do much better than these.
I have just learned about Timothy Doran Kerlee, Jr. He was the twelfth
student to die, when his life support was disconnected last Friday evening.
Let me tell you about this amazing kid.
Tim graduated last year from Germantown High School in Germantown,
Tennessee. He was an Eagle Scout, graduated third in his class, and was
elected to his High School Hall of Fame. He was a student athlete, and
a member of the National Honor Society. Hie was active in the youth group
and drama club at his Methodist Church.
He was actively recruited by Texas A&M, and when he enrolled he tested
out of his entire freshman year. That is how this 17 year-old could be
classified as a sophomore.
Tim's father said that he was thrilled to be at A&M, and especially excited about bonfire.
When the stack collapsed, his pelvis was crushed, his arm was broken, and
his internal organs were scrambled like an omlette.
On the front page of Friday's Dallas Morning News is a large photo of the
collapsed stack taken during the early part of the rescue effort. You can see a
team working at the base of the logs to save a trapped student.
About five feet above the rescue team is Tim Kerlee, reclining on a pile of
logs, propped up on one elbow. Unless you look carefully at the photo you
will probably not notice that his legs are laying in an odd position.
What was happening, according to the rescue teams, was that Kerlee was directing the teams to other students trapped in the stack. He kept telling them that he was O.K., and he directed rescuers to at least five other students before he allowed them to take him down from the stack.
He was taken into emergency surgery, and when they opened him up they
found his organs so badly damaged that they couldn't identify much of what
they saw. They closed him up, wrapped him in a sheet to hold him together,
and placed on life support.
He lived long enough to see and speak to his
parents. He was aware that he was dying and asked to be removed from life support. When his parents asked him why he wanted to, he asked them why he should fight for a few more days of life when he could be in Heaven
with Jesus right now.
Well, he got his wish. I feel sorry that I never had a chance to know Tim
Kerlee, but I praise God for kids like Tim Kerlee. If you had to pick a twelfth
man you couldn't do much better.
Fred Maddox
A&M.
The Twelfth Man
The twelve young people who died were truly remarkable kids. They were
scholars, student athletes, active in Boy Scouts, 4-H, Church groups,
they were leaders. If you had to chose a dozen students to represent the
best of Texas A&M, you probably wouldn't do much better than these.
I have just learned about Timothy Doran Kerlee, Jr. He was the twelfth
student to die, when his life support was disconnected last Friday evening.
Let me tell you about this amazing kid.
Tim graduated last year from Germantown High School in Germantown,
Tennessee. He was an Eagle Scout, graduated third in his class, and was
elected to his High School Hall of Fame. He was a student athlete, and
a member of the National Honor Society. Hie was active in the youth group
and drama club at his Methodist Church.
He was actively recruited by Texas A&M, and when he enrolled he tested
out of his entire freshman year. That is how this 17 year-old could be
classified as a sophomore.
Tim's father said that he was thrilled to be at A&M, and especially excited about bonfire.
When the stack collapsed, his pelvis was crushed, his arm was broken, and
his internal organs were scrambled like an omlette.
On the front page of Friday's Dallas Morning News is a large photo of the
collapsed stack taken during the early part of the rescue effort. You can see a
team working at the base of the logs to save a trapped student.
About five feet above the rescue team is Tim Kerlee, reclining on a pile of
logs, propped up on one elbow. Unless you look carefully at the photo you
will probably not notice that his legs are laying in an odd position.
What was happening, according to the rescue teams, was that Kerlee was directing the teams to other students trapped in the stack. He kept telling them that he was O.K., and he directed rescuers to at least five other students before he allowed them to take him down from the stack.
He was taken into emergency surgery, and when they opened him up they
found his organs so badly damaged that they couldn't identify much of what
they saw. They closed him up, wrapped him in a sheet to hold him together,
and placed on life support.
He lived long enough to see and speak to his
parents. He was aware that he was dying and asked to be removed from life support. When his parents asked him why he wanted to, he asked them why he should fight for a few more days of life when he could be in Heaven
with Jesus right now.
Well, he got his wish. I feel sorry that I never had a chance to know Tim
Kerlee, but I praise God for kids like Tim Kerlee. If you had to pick a twelfth
man you couldn't do much better.
Fred Maddox
God Bless him and the others that were killed.