Jeremy

I hadn't been at work more than about 30 minutes or so when I learned about what happened to Jeremy and his brothers.

My phone rang. I didn't recognize the name on the caller id. It ended up being a guy who works on the SC Runners Web site, is an area cross-country runner, and is a journalist with one of the major dailies in the area.

Jeremy and his brothers Dan and Ryan had just been visiting some family in North Dakota and were returning to a summer mission program in which they were participating in at Yellowstone.

There had been a very serious accident. Dan and Jeremy were thrown from the car. Ryan had suffered minor injuries.

Jeremy was airlifted to the Bozeman hospital. That night an article ran in the Bozeman paper that there had been a traffic fatality in that wreck.

Obviously there was a bit of a misunderstanding as to Jeremy's condition. The authorities admitted to that.

Some tests were done which indicated that Jeremy didn't have any brain activity. He was put on life support.

His family talked to his high school cross country coach. His coach relayed news of Jeremy's accident to the person who called me on the phone those 30 minutes or so after I got into work.

He wanted us to know - and to let Jeremy's college cross country coach, Mike, know.

I sat back in my chair as I heard the news. I took a deep breath. I asked what had happened. I asked how Jeremy's family was doing. I told him to let Jeremy's family know that he, his brothers, and their entire family were in our prayers.

As I got off the phone, I took a minute to take everything in. I was still in shock. I said a prayer for Jeremy and his family.

Jeremy went through surgery the next day to relieve the swelling on his brain. They did another test which showed Jeremy did have brain activity. He's been on a respirator since. But there have been some positive signs.

He has responded to some voice commands. There have been some movements also. He has opened his eyes slightly.



I didn't know Jeremy very well when he was a student-athlete on our campus. He ran cross country and set numerous school records which still stand. I had talked with him a few times though.

The first time I ever met Jeremy was a brisk Saturday morning before our team was to run the annual Eye Opener race in Spartanburg. He and his teammates were all smiles. They were hyped up to run. I introduced myself, shot a few photos with him and his teammates, and then shot their races. Jeremy came in 6th in our division.

I interviewed him for a profile story in our alumni magazine a few weeks prior to his graduation.

Jeremy is the type of guy who always had a smile on his face. He's the type of guy who always had friends around him. He's determined. He's strong. He's a fighter. He's a role model. And he's a very strong Christian.

I learned a lot about him in the hour or so that one day when we talked. His coach, Mike, always talked highly of him. His teammates always did. He became a brother to his teammates as they all became brothers and sisters to him.




Getting back to the morning of that call.... so I'm sitting there at my desk after hanging up the phone. I look up our cross country coach's number and dialed what probably is the hardest phone call I've ever had to make.

I told him about Jeremy. I listened as he stumbled for words. He was in disbelief. I still was too. Then I sent out an email across campus to our faculty and staff telling them about Jeremy.

It's been six weeks now.

Jeremy has shown that he's a fighter. He's shown he's not yet done. God is keeping him here for a purpose. We may not know right now what, but God is watching over Jeremy.

I pray he recovers. Nobody knows for sure what will happen. Only God does.

It's been a shock for the tight knit family that I work with. It's been weeks of prayers. From friends, from family, from alumni, from students - from our entire community.



I never thought when I took this job that I would become friends with so many of these students. Part of me at first was like, 'That's really not my job to be friends with them. Sure I need to be cordial. But it's probably not a good thing to be friends with them.' The other part though, 'Well, if you want to be effective in your job you have to get to know the students to be able to tell the news media and the alumni what these students are doing and about the things going on on our campus.'

I never knew that I would know so many of them by first name. Become friends with some of them on Facebook. See them on campus and ask how their day is going - or what they think of Kim's SMC 101 class. That's what makes this job so fun.

But you really can't help but establish friendships with them -- and want them to succeed. When they do awesome things, you get excited for them. You're taking photos of an athletic game and all of a sudden you're yelling for them and cheering them on. They get injured in an accident late one night on campus and you say a prayer for them.

Then at the end of the year you say goodbye to one group, wish them the best of luck, and three months later welcome another group to campus. There are some that I've even stayed in touch with as they've gone on to places like Clemson, Southern Wesleyan, Winthrop, Florida Atlantic, College of Charleston, or even Syracuse.



Again, as I mentioned earlier, I don't know Jeremy very well, personally. But I know his character. And I know what kind of an impact he has had on our campus - with his friends, his teachers, our coaches, our staff -- with his extended family.

But for his real family -- there is no way I could possibly begin to talk about what they're going through let alone even imagine it. We hear through Jeremy's CaringBridge Web site how he and his family are doing. We hear from his friends. We hear from his former teammates.

And we continue to pray that he recovers.

Jeremy is in an acute care facility in Spartanburg now, as his family talks to a facility in Atlanta. His brother Dan hasn't totally recovered either. He has a long road ahead of him also. But he's been released from the hospital and is going through outpatient physical therapy in Bozeman.




Earlier this week, our director of student activities and leadership development, Kim, suggested, after talking with one of Jeremy's family members, that we do a run / walk fundraiser as part of our upcoming Family Day / Homecoming activities. So she and I and a few other folks from our staff met a couple days ago and got the ball rolling on that.

The Jeremy Vangsnes 5K Benefit Run will be held at the Spartanburg Methodist College campus on Oct. 3. The money raised from the event will go to a fund already set up to help assist his family with medical costs involved in their care of Jeremy and his brothers.

We're excited about this. We're excited to be able to help out part of our extended family - to help out Jeremy's family. We pray that he will recover. Only God knows what the ultimate outcome will be. But we're looking forward to contributing our little part to His plan.

We're hoping for a few hundred people to participate. It would be awesome if we could get many hundreds of people to participate.

In my time as a journalist, I covered various fundraisers, charity work, service work, etc. It's always great to be able to cover those kinds of stories. But to be on the other side and actually be part of the team that is there to bring about the result of the project is a totally different experience.

Sept. 12, 2001 was one of my proudest days professionally -- not for myself, but for the efforts of the entire team of coworkers that I worked with at WYFF. The station put on a telethon fundraiser to aid the Red Cross' relief efforts following the terrorist attacks of the day before. If I recall correctly, in 24 hours we raised over $300,000.

I know this event for Jeremy and his family is one that I and my coworkers are going to be tremendously proud of. But we're not in this for any reward. At the same time, if we can say that this event, that Jeremy's and his brothers' stories, that his dedication and/or his character will have brought someone closer to their family, to God, and/or to their purpose in life, then that will be a great thing.

At the same time, we'll be helping part of our extended family alleviate some of their financial burden and lifting them up in their time of need. And we'll continue to pray for them, for Jeremy, and for their entire family.

And if you're interested in participating in the Jeremy Vangsnes 5K Benefit Run, just let me know and I'll get you some more information on it.