Passing of student inspires fundraising, memorial game
January 21, 2016
On Dec. 2, 2015 Lafayette was faced with the unexpected death of sophomore Andy Keithley who was killed in an automobile accident. Police confirmed that he was speeding on Sheppard Road, when lost control of his vehicle and crashed. Keithley wasn’t wearing a seat belt.
According to the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention), motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death among those aged 1-54 in the United States. Young adults (18-24) are have the highest crash-related injury rates of all adults.
Social media was immediately flooded with remembrance and mourning posts of Keithley. Many were captioned with Keithley’s signature motto, “Make it Count”.
David Keithley, Andy’s father, explained the origins of the “Make it Count” during the Keithley memorial.
“From what we understand, Andy’s dad had always been his coach growing up, and there was a story he told at the memorial service by his dad about how it was kind of their thing. Like before a game or before a practice, he would tell Andy to make it count,” Doug Ell said, who had attended the Keithley memorial service. Ell had coached Andy for the past two years in boys volleyball at Lafayette.
“Andy’s father had recently moved to California, and Andy had taken his dad to the airport,” Ell said. This is the last time David and Andy would see each other before Andy’s accident.
“Andy flipped the script on his dad, and as his dad got out of the car to the airport, Andy told his dad, ‘Hey Dad, make it count, ” Ell said.
As one drives down Sheppard Road coming off of 109, to the right of Babler Elementary school is a sign reading “Make It Count. Buckle Up.”
“The sign was generated through the Highway Department in the city of Wildwood. The department made three signs to put in the area where Andy passed. It’s a reminder to buckle your seat belt,” Principal John Shaughnessy said.
The sign was also placed on Lafayette grounds as a reminder for students to fasten their seat belts and drive safely.
Recently, many students were seen wearing red bracelets with AK18 on one side and Keithley’s motto of make it count on the other. Senior Jessica Collins is behind the bracelets. Collins got the idea while talking to David Keithley, and she immediately put her plan into action.
“I knew Andy wore a lot of those rubber bracelets, and I thought it would be a good way for people to remember Andy,” Collins said.
Collins went to an online site to design them and ordered about 300 of the bracelets.
“I decided to sell the bracelets for $2 a piece and give the money to the Keithley family to help cover the costs of the funeral,” Collins said.
Collins raised approximately $600 from selling the bracelets.
“People would hand me fives and twenties, and they would tell me to keep the change,” Collins said.
Following Collin’s suit, the Superfans club at Lafayette decided to create and sell T-shirts, with all the proceeds going to the Kiethley family. The T-shirt sale started this week, and will end on Jan. 22, 2016. The T-shirts cost $10 each.
Photo courtesy of Nick Horstmann
On Jan. 22, the varsity boys basketball team will have a game dedicated to Keithley. The contest is set to be at Lafayette starting at 7 p.m. against Eureka. This is Lafayette’s first meeting against the Wildcats and is set to be their only meeting, unless they meet in the postseason.
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