Christiana, TN - A private family service was held for Asher Sullivan on Friday (5/24/2024) after he was treated for more than a week in Nashville at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt.
There is a moving tribute to Asher on the Woodfin Funeral Chapel's website: CLICK HERE
Prayers continue for the family of Dr. Jimmy Sullivan. his wife Kaycee, along with surviving son Declan.
Events Leading To Tragedy - There was still daylight remaining when the tornadoes and floods passed through the quiet Christiana community on Wednesday evening, May 8, 2024. Neighbors were out helping each other clear debris and repair fences.
10-year old Asher Sullivan lost his shoe and it was floating into the storm drain. While trying to grab it, he fell-in and was swept under the roadway.
Emergency responders, who were already on-the-scene, quickly administered CPR, but as was discovered in the week that followed--fatal brain damage had already occurred.
Several prayer vigils for Asher and the Sullivan family were held. The first was the next afternoon when a standing-room-only crowd gathered in front of the Rutherford County Board of Education Building where Dr. Sullivan, Asher's dad, serves as the director of schools.
Other prayer vigils, go fund me accounts and more were the outpouring of love and concern for this family.
The family requested privacy, but Dr. Sullivan felt the love from the community and shared personal thoughts in daily social media updates about Asher.
A ray of hope faded with the May 10th report, "The doctor this morning told us Asher wouldn’t survive his injuries."
Two-days later (5/12/24), the words were, "Kaycee and I have some impossible decisions to make in the next few days that no parents should have to face. Please pray for our family and our sweet Asher."
By May 17, the Sullivan family reported, "Had tough conversations yesterday with the doctors about the reality of Asher’s situation...Asher has an anoxic brain injury (ABI) due to lack of oxygen to his brain. This type of injury is different from a traumatic brain injury (TBI). If he had a TBI, we would have other options. TBI involves damage to parts of the brain, ABI involves damage to all parts of the brain bc of lack of oxygen...Realistically, we don’t expect Asher to recover, but we are checking and rechecking all the boxes to ensure we’ve done all we can before making that decision. We love you Asher!"
And ten days after the tragic event, Dr. Sullivan's post was, "Asher officially passed away this afternoon around 1:20 pm."
Asher's helping others did not end with death, it took a different direction. The 10-year old donated his organs and others are alive because of Asher Sullivan.
Dr. Sullivan posted, "Today we said goodbye to Asher after his honor walk for organ donation. We walked him through the fifth floor and to the elevators that go down to the OR. Asher gave the gift of organ donation to four others so he will live on in them. I will live my life to honor his spirit and to make sure he is never forgotten."
