CHESAPEAKE, Va. — As one of their teammates continues to navigate a tragic loss, the Deep Creek High School football team rallied to provide support to him on a special day.
Keenan Harvey is a student at Deep Creek, where he plays football. The lineman recently celebrated his 17th birthday on July 11. However, his past couple of birthdays have been bittersweet without his mother Pamela, who passed away two Mother’s Days ago.
“It hurt me a lot that day. I felt so angry and sad,” said Keenan. “It made my grades drop, I stopped talking to my friends and family.”
Keenan says she was diagnosed with a heart disease when he was young.
“When I was around 10, they said she didn’t have long to live. They said she could get surgery to make her live longer, but she didn’t want it. It was risky, said Keenan.
He vividly remembers the night he learned he lost his best friend.
“It was right after my dad’s birthday. We had a party and I woke up around 4 a.m., and my mom wasn’t there [anymore]. I didn’t want to believe it at first. It’s been hard trying to get used to it," said Keenan.
On his birthday this year, his teammates organized a surprise to fill his special day with joy. The gesture was all his teammates' idea.
“I texted the group chat, I said, ‘Hey y’all, it’s Keenan’s birthday, let’s do something for him,'" said Deep Creek senior and linebacker Rickey Foreman. "In 15 minutes, we literally texted the group chat, raised the money, [and] went and got the cake and give it to him.”
As a group, they went to Keenan’s home in Chesapeake with a birthday cake, a card and gifts.
Keenan says the surprise made him feel valued and reminded him that his teammates care about him, on and off the field.
“It made me feel happy and loved. I didn’t think [many] people cared about my life, but they made sure that I knew I was loved and appreciated,” said Keenan.
Watch the surprise here:
He says he’s grateful for the tight-knit bond he has with his teammates, who are there to lend their support through tough times.
“[The] Deep Creek football team brotherhood means a lot to me. It means no matter how hard things get, I know I have a whole group of people that care about one another and that if one of our brothers is in need, we will help them as best as we can,” said Keenan.
This year, Keenan will start his senior year at Deep Creek. He'll suit up to play again this year, although he misses his mom cheering him on at his games.
“She loved me playing football. Every game, she would come out, she would buy all my gear for me," said Keenan.
However, he says the Deep Creek High School football team has his back.
“They helped me out through the dark times," he said.
His teammates agree, and say they'll always be there for one another, through good and bad times.
“It’s second nature for us here. [If] we see somebody going down, we try to lift them up," said Rickey.
Keenan says he's looking forward to his final season as a Hornet with his teammates, or as he calls them, his brothers.
