A heart of gold, always a smile, always positive, always there, and always giving of himself. Those are just some of the ways Wade Jernigan’s friends described him in the hours following a tragic wreck Wednesday morning not far from Northview High School. And, even in his death, he continued to give of himself.
“Wade was truly a sweetheart, he was the best friend a girl could have. I was so shocked and overwhelmed about the passing I broke down in to tears,” a friend wrote. “But later on in the day i realized this is a time not mourn and grieve but to mainly honor how great of a guy he was.”
“I’ve never in my time being at Northview witnessed the halls so empty of emotion and noise. Silence had overwhelmed us completely. This tells you how great of a guy he was. It hurts us all to think the guy you surrounded yourself with in case you were having a bad day, is gone. In return, we will all grow stronger, and learn from this,” another student wrote about the Northview sophomore.
After doctors did all they could do, Wade was kept on life support at Sacred Heart Hospital in order to donate his organs.
“Through his unselfish, giving spirit he chose to be an organ donor, and even though we greatly grieve his passing, through it he gave eight people and their families life and in this way he lives on through them,” the family said.