{"id":2409,"date":"2014-12-15T10:44:19","date_gmt":"2014-12-15T15:44:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/dev-mag\/?p=2409"},"modified":"2016-02-02T11:47:55","modified_gmt":"2016-02-02T16:47:55","slug":"the-ride","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/2014\/12\/15\/the-ride\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ride"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FALL14the-ride2\"<\/p>\n

I met the Wilson Family in print before I met them in person.<\/p>\n

Their news was tragic. Cory Wilson, a 21-year-old Georgia Southern business major, seemingly healthy and fit, collapsed in class without warning, without reason. He never regained consciousness.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no way to describe him,\u201d said Cory\u2019s little sister, Morgan, a junior business management major at Georgia Southern. \u201cHe was a character. He was just so goofy.\u201d Morgan admitted in high school she didn\u2019t want to be known as \u201cCory\u2019s little sister.\u201d \u201cI was Morgan. That\u2019s my name. Then, as we got older, it actually became an honor. Everybody loved Cory so much.\u201d She\u2019s never talked about \u2018that day\u2019 until now, but wanted to share Cory\u2019s story to help raise AED awareness, hoping it can save lives and spare other families the grief they\u2019ve endured. \u201cI never want anyone to experience this again,\u201d Morgan said.<\/p>\n

Cory died of fatal cardiac arrhythmia. Although a courageous classmate, Edwin Garcia, performed CPR on Cory until professional help arrived, use of an AED (Automated External Defibrillator) would have offered Cory his only chance of survival. \u201cAn AED is the only effective treatment for restoring normal heart rhythm during a sudden cardiac arrest,\u201d said Dr. Brian DeLoach, medical director, staff physician and AED Committee member at Georgia Southern. \u201cFor each minute that passes during this abnormal rhythm, damage occurs, and the likelihood of recovery decreases.\u201d According to the American Red Cross, for each minute use of an AED is delayed, the chance of survival decreases by 10 percent.<\/p>\n

Morgan admitted that before that day\u2014January 17, 2013\u2014she felt AEDs were \u201cfor somebody else.\u201d \u201cNow that I see how it\u2019s affected my family, it\u2019s become an important cause to us,\u201d said Morgan. \u201cYou don\u2019t really think too much about something until it happens to you.\u201d Today, she urges everyone to take note of nearby AEDs and to take them seriously. After all, AEDs are easy to use, and safe for both user and victim. \u201cThe units will not deliver a shock unless it detects an abnormal rhythm,\u201d added DeLoach. \u201cOur units on campus are designed so that even a person with no training can open them, power them on, and then follow the prompts to use them correctly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ironically, Cory\u2019s mom, Lisa Wilson, is a registered nurse with the Chatham County Board of Education and a 1986 Georgia Southern nursing graduate. She also is a CPR instructor with the American Heart Association. Lisa was even one of many who worked on Cory in the ER, stepping in line to perform CPR on her own son. \u201cHe\u2019s just somewhere\u2026 he\u2019s still alive but they can\u2019t reach him because they don\u2019t know him,\u201d Lisa remembers thinking. \u201cIf I do CPR, he\u2019s going to know it\u2019s his mom. He\u2019s going to come back because I\u2019m his mom.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"FALL14the-ride3\"But Cory\u2019s condition didn\u2019t change. Lisa went around again. And again. It had been more than an hour since Cory collapsed and he was still unresponsive. When she was told it was time to stop, Lisa remembers saying, \u201cBut I\u2019m not tired. I don\u2019t want to stop.\u201d Even during our interview, she asked herself, \u201cShould I have just done one more round?\u201d<\/p>\n

That day was a Thursday. Morgan was in history class\u2014only her second day of classes after the winter break. \u201cI had my phone tucked away in my book bag,\u201d said Morgan. \u201cWhen class was over I noticed I had around 20 texts and more than that in missed calls. I knew something was wrong.\u201d When she learned Cory had \u201cfainted\u201d in class, Morgan thought, \u201cHe\u2019s probably fine. You all can deal with it. I have to go to class.\u201d But before she knew it, Morgan was in the East Georgia Regional Medical Center waiting room, and a nurse was whisking her away to the back of the hospital to a small room with a single chair. \u201cI thought I was going to get to see Cory,\u201d Morgan said. \u201cI was so confused. I made some jokes. Tried to laugh it off.\u201d Morgan said her perception of time was warped that day\u2014every moment feeling like a split second or forever. She remembers her mom coming into the room and the words, \u201cMorgan, your brother didn\u2019t make it.\u201d She remembers screaming. \u201cI couldn\u2019t stop screaming in that little room. My mom started crying. The nurse started crying\u2026 I wondered what we were having for dinner. Random stuff. It hadn\u2019t hit me yet. I thought, \u2018Cory will walk through the door. It\u2019ll be okay.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

After that, Morgan never returned to the waiting room. She remembers: a hallway, her friend Ashley holding her hand, her dad crying. She\u2019d never seen her dad cry before, ever. Morgan knew this would change the life she knew\u2014vacations, holidays. \u201cI don\u2019t have any siblings now,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m an only child.\u201d Mother and daughter had to drive Cory\u2019s truck back to the family home in Savannah. \u201cThe longest car trip ever,\u201d Morgan said. \u201cThat\u2019s when I became the person whose brother passed away. That was my new identity\u2026 I went back and forth between sobbing and making jokes. I didn\u2019t really know how to act. I guess everybody\u2019s hurt was different. Nobody knew how to handle each other. I didn\u2019t know how to handle a mourning mother or mourning father, just as they didn\u2019t know how to handle a mourning sister. We dealt with it the best way we could.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cory\u2019s dad, Kenny Wilson, owns Coastal Truck Parts Center in Garden City, Georgia. He met Lisa at Georgia Southern in Dr. Alexander\u2019s biology class. \u201cYou could say we found chemistry in biology,\u201d said Kenny. When Cory was born on Nov. 11, 1991, he recalls walking into the hospital hallway and shouting: \u201cI got a boy! I got a boy!\u201d He told me the two of them loved to hunt and fish together. \u201cWe did that a lot,\u201d he said fighting back tears. \u201cI taught him how to ride a motorcycle, too.\u201d Lisa added, \u201cCory wasn\u2019t just a son but was Kenny\u2019s best friend. After high school graduation we told Cory he could do anything he wanted. Cory chose to spend time with his dad. They packed up the bikes and rode into the mountains, camping along the Blue Ridge Parkway into North Carolina.\u201d Cory wrote a poem about it as part of a class project:<\/p>\n

The Ride<\/em><\/strong>
\n It is the ride with my dad in the fall<\/em>
\n Gliding along the highway<\/em>
\n with the warm breeze against my body<\/em>
\n With no intended destination in mind<\/em>
\n Away from the rambunctious city<\/em>
\n and into the peaceful country<\/em>
\n Only miles and miles of highway<\/em>
\n with no traffic or stoplights<\/em>
\n We stop at a lonely fuel station<\/em>
\n to get gas and a refreshing Yoo-hoo<\/em>
\n Then back on the outstretched highway<\/em>
\n and continue on our journey to nowhere<\/em>
\n The occasional glance over his shoulder<\/em>
\n to make sure I\u2019m still behind him<\/em>
\n Nothing else seems to be there<\/em>
\n except his bike and mine<\/em>
\n Living in the moment on my perfect day.<\/em>
\n – Cory Wilson<\/em>
\n February 17, 2009<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The entire Wilson Family is still trying to find a new normal. \u201cWe buried our child,\u201d said Lisa. \u201cIt still seems like a bad dream. We go to the grave every week. We\u2019ve had all kinds of things left\u2014baseballs, tennis balls, pennies, oyster shells and bandanas. Cory loved red bandanas. When he rode in the mountains he always tied a red bandana around his head before putting on his helmet. I think it made him feel tough, like he was unstoppable. But red was his favorite color and it suited him. Cory was so passionate about everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Wilsons said Cory was so happy to be at Georgia Southern. \u201cHe was everybody\u2019s \u2018buddy,\u2019 lover of life and all things good. It\u2019s hard to understand, except that in his death others have found life.\u201d Lisa said she had an active save as a result of a CPR class she taught after Cory\u2019s passing. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t have been in that class if someone hadn\u2019t heard Cory\u2019s story,\u201d said Lisa.<\/p>\n

And AED numbers have gone up on the Georgia Southern campus because of the Cory Wilson tragedy. The University had a handful of AEDs, even in the 1990s. Some were in Campus Police patrol cars. A few were placed at the RAC and one at the Union, but there was no joint effort yet. \u201cUntil recently, it had been an individual department effort,\u201d said University Director of Public Safety and Chief of Police Mike Russell. \u201cSince Cory\u2019s death, we formed an AED Committee. We went through campus and did an inventory of where they should go. The first phase was purchased with year-end money. We bought as many as we could buy. Last year, we completed the second-phase purchase. We\u2019ll continue that trend until we get one in every building.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"FALL14the-ride4\"Today, there are about 144 AEDs on campus. Chief Russell encourages everyone to take CPR, familiarize themselves with AEDs, and share stories like Cory\u2019s, as well as successful saves. \u201cWhen they were building the biology building there was a successful save during construction,\u201d said Russell. \u201cOne of the company\u2019s workers collapsed and was saved using an AED.\u201d Donations always help. The Wilsons donated one to the KA fraternity house. Even the construction company donated one to the biology department when they discovered one of their own workers was saved by an AED. \u201cWe\u2019re funding them however we can,\u201d said Russell.<\/p>\n

Georgia Southern President Brooks Keel said the Wilson\u2019s donation indicates that the University is a family. \u201cWhen tragedy strikes a family, we come together to support each other,\u201d Keel said. \u201cWe have come together to take action to hopefully prevent this from ever happening again.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Wilsons remember Cory through symbols, gestures and because they\u2019ll simply never be able to forget. Morgan told me she still has three of Cory\u2019s old voicemails. \u201cThey\u2019ve been really comforting,\u201d she said. \u201cI try not to listen to them every day. But I just want to hear his voice. Sometimes pictures just aren\u2019t the same.\u201d Morgan even got Cory\u2019s initials tattooed on her foot. \u201cThe tattoo is just a simple reminder to not get too carried away with the busyness of life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Morgan wants to follow her dreams of becoming a wedding planner, although when everything happened she admitted she just wanted to get away. \u201cI live in the same neighborhood where Cory lived, across from the hospital where he died. And I\u2019m a business major, so I\u2019m constantly across from the classroom that he died in. I see the AED on the wall.* For a while I was walking campus almost a celebrity, but one nobody wanted to run into. I felt like everyone knew who I was. I thought about transferring. I thought about dropping out.\u201d Morgan credited her boyfriend Andrew with keeping her going. She found enormous comfort in RUF (Reformed University Fellowship) as well and said her parents were very supportive. Morgan said they told her, \u2018you\u2019re still living. Life is about the living. You still need to experience life.\u2019 \u201cGradually, I realized I was looking for ways to escape what happened but I didn\u2019t want to escape Cory,\u201d she said. \u201cAfter a while, running into people became a comfort thing\u2026 I saw little bits of Cory in them\u2014in the way they talked and dressed. Georgia Southern still felt like home.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"FALL14the-ride6\"The most difficult time of year Morgan has had to deal with is Christmas because of the family traditions. \u201cOn Christmas Eve, me and Cory would play Mario Cart on Nintendo 64,\u201d said Morgan. \u201cChristmas morning has just been so hard to deal with. I think my parents are still struggling with family vacations, too. We did go on a trip after Cory died, but instead of it being the four of us, it was only three. So the seat on the airplane for Cory was empty. It was hard to travel that way. I always tell Andrew, I hope you\u2019re prepared to have 30 kids because I don\u2019t like being an only child at all\u2026 When he\u2019s with us it evens out to the way I think things should be. There are four of us again. He\u2019s goofy too. Not quite as goofy as Cory but he goes hunting and fishing so he can relate to my dad more. My dad really misses having his \u2018buddy.\u2019 Now our family is just two girls and a guy\u2026 my dad has had to watch a lot of episodes of \u2018Say Yes to the Dress!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

In Sorrento, Italy, this past summer, Morgan was in a dock area where a man started drowning. Bystanders administered CPR but the man died. \u201cThe resort didn\u2019t have an AED,\u201d said Morgan. \u201cThat was one of the first times I asked myself, \u2018how do you not have an AED?\u2019 I\u2019m so used to looking for them now. You don\u2019t even have to be certified. It hurts to know I didn\u2019t know this before\u2026 I guess I would tell readers that it\u2019s simple. An AED is so simple to use.\u201d<\/p>\n

To say the Wilsons were flat-footed and stunned by Cory\u2019s death would be an understatement. \u201cYou just never saw this coming,\u201d said Lisa. \u201cThere\u2019s no words anybody can tell you that\u2019s going to make you feel like it\u2019s all better.\u201d And their entire support system was in shock. Grandparents were grieving for their children who were in turn grieving for their child. \u201cI prayed for healthy children. Everything else was extra,\u201d said Lisa. \u201cIf I could have been given a paper to write down the things I wanted in a son or daughter, I wouldn\u2019t have chosen anything different for either of them. Cory\u2019s dream was to be like his dad. He admired Kenny so much. And he was well on his way. For me, being his mother made me a better person, just as being Morgan\u2019s mom makes me a better person. \u2018Live, laugh, love, Mom,\u2019 Cory always said. He taught us so much about living. How is it that a mother holds her baby\u2019s birth certificate and death certificate in the same hand? I suppose there\u2019s peace in knowing he lived life to the fullest and he was where he wanted to be, with the people he wanted to be with, on the day he died.\u201d<\/p>\n

An athlete growing up, Cory loved going to Georgia Southern football games, but especially watching \u201cFreedom.\u201d When the bald eagle flew, everything stopped. During Commencement, in which Lisa and Kenny accepted Cory\u2019s degree posthumously, his red bandana was attached to one of Freedom\u2019s wings. \u201cWhat an honor and tribute to Cory,\u201d said Lisa. Georgia Southern held a candlelight vigil for Cory and students organized a balloon lift in Cory\u2019s memory. And when musician Darius Rucker was in town, KA and Phi Mu recorded a video singing \u201cWagon Wheel,\u201d which was to be Cory and his girlfriend Olivia\u2019s wedding song. \u201cEveryone has been wonderful to all of us,\u201d said Lisa. \u201cThe University also wants to do something in the spring to spotlight cardiac awareness. We\u2019re so grateful.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Wilson family wants Cory\u2019s story shared so people understand the importance of CPR and using an AED. \u201cIt\u2019s like a fire extinguisher,\u201d said Lisa. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t do any good if it stays on the wall. Our purpose in sharing is to hopefully allow someone else to understand that saving a life is really within anyone\u2019s potential. We want that part of our tragedy to be turned into something positive\u2026 We don\u2019t want sympathy. We want action. Don\u2019t feel sorry for us. Just get busy. What happened was tragic and it hasn\u2019t gotten easier, but we hope people read this and want to help or become informed. Do whatever they can. Nothing will make it easier, but someone else\u2019s life will be touched.\u201d<\/p>\n

From my time with Morgan, Lisa and Kenny, I know I have been. To Cory, who I only know through the words of others, I wish you a safe ride \u2018gliding along the highway.\u2019 Thank you for taking us all along for the ride. – Michael J. Soloway<\/em><\/p>\n

*AED was donated by Cardiac Science and hangs beside a plaque in Cory\u2019s memory.<\/em><\/p>\n