Local DUI victims Henry Pearson and Jon Wilhite, as well as their friends Courtney Stewart and Nick Adenhart, were honored in a moving memorial dedication Saturday before a large gathering at Marine Park.
In April, 2009, three of these youths lost their lives in a car crash caused by a drunk driver, and sole survivor Jon Wilhite was nearly in death’s grip with his brain so swollen that he was in a medically induced life-or-death coma for nine days.
But this tragic situation did not end there, as the local community, particularly the collective Manhattan Beach and South Bay baseball family, rallied with an outpouring of sentiment, prayers and fundraisers for the Wilhite family. The Stewart family worked with Vicki Maciha of Orange County Mothers Against Drunk Driving, and appeared on the “Dr. Phil Show” to raise awareness of the tragic consequences of driving under the influence. The Los Angeles Angels dedicated a section of the outfield wall and their season to Nick Adenhart, further spreading the message.
The Pearson family, though numbed by their own loss of a young man who three years after his death, inspires not only his friends and baseball teammates at Mira Costa, but also those who never met him. His parents, Areta and Nigel, his uncle, Peter, and his big sister, Jessica, first arranged for a memorial service at the Mira Costa baseball field. Then they then honored Henry’s love for baseball by asking his friends to donate funds, in his honor, to Reviving Baseball in the Inner Cities, a Major League Baseball-affiliated, youth baseball program.
The road back for these families and the community included the inauguration – led by Mira Costa’s baseball coaches, including Cassidy Olson – of the annual “Henry Pearson Classic” with El Segundo. Also, under the leadership of Manhattan Beach Little League, Mark Macdonald and the Beach City Baseball Academy, new lights and a new scoreboard were installed, decorated with one of Henry’s favorite sayings, “Play for fun.” Tom Tyrer, Michael Wilhite and Mark Leyman of Manhattan Beach Parks and Recreation Department, along with Mayor Nick Tell and the City Council, joined with the Pearsons and others, to move the memorial wall project to completion.
Last Saturday, all the families expressed, as one of their goals, that those who know of this tragedy – most particularly youth – counsel friends and others to not drive while under the influence of alcohol or mind-affecting drugs.
