I Connick the Terminator

Chapter 58: Shawn Whitley

I wanted to throw this guy in because he is the catalyst behind many of my searches for the truth.

 I am a senior in high school at W.P. Davidson High school in Mobile Alabama. The year is 1986. Shawn was a guy who was not the most athletic guy in the world. He was a good-hearted person that was always around. He could be found sleeping in class at times because he worked hard late at night to support his family. On one occasion, we were at a local park playing home-run derby and Shawn miss judged the ball coming at him and it hit him in the lip. He was using a tobacco product at the time and I think he got sick and hurt all at the same time.

The story that I have to tell is the story that made me think of all the possibilities in life. Shawn told his parents that he was going to the family's hunting camp to spend the night. Instead, Shawn, like so many high school students did not tell the truth, he went to a keg party instead. The night went on and the beer may have been flowing freely. Nevertheless, Shawn feel asleep. He tried to get up and make his way to the hunting camp as he told his parents that is where he was going to be. Shawn did not make it.

Early the next morning, Shawn got behind the wheel of his vehicle and fell asleep on his way to the camp. 

 My father, a retired police officer, informed me that when this happens, a driver's foot either slips off the accelerator or it gets heavier on the pedal and makes the car go faster. This is the weird thing that happened, that got me thinking. 

 Shawn left the divided highway to his left about a hundred yards from a bridge overpass. The vehicle was centered in the middle of the divide because of the two sloping sides meeting in the middle to create a ditch. The overpass is the only overpass on the highway that did not have the guardrails that crossed to prevent a vehicle from going in between the two bridges. Shawn's vehicle went in between the two bridges and crashed nose- first into the bottom of the embankment. Shawn was rushed to the hospital where he laid in a coma. After about a week, Shawn died.

Shawn was loved by everyone in our class and his death helped unify us. Shawn's parents invited some of us over to join in a prayer group. I have never been in a prayer group before and this opened my eyes about my classmates and their faith.