Hampton Diamond Stars Come Out For Caitlin
Up until late June, Caitlin Pettit seemed to have it together more than most soon-to-be-adults.
Fresh off graduating from Kecoughtan High, the bubbly Hampton teenager was ready to follow in her family's career footsteps. Already a volunteer firefighter, Caitlin hoped to head into the local firefighting corps, just as her mother, aunt, and uncle had done in the past.
But in seconds, everything changed.
On June 23, Eddie Van Es was on a Peninsula Pilots road trip.
"My dad kept calling me," said Van Es, a Pilot outfielder and Kecoughtan alumnus. "I finally talked to my sister, and she asked if I'd talked to my dad. I thought something had happened to him."
Indeed, something had happened - but not to his father.
The night before, Caitlin had spent the day helping a friend move, and wanted to cool off in the friend's pool, a familiar hangout to the avid swimmer. She took a dive into the pool, and didn't come right back up.
But she wasn't testing her breath-holding capacity; she'd banged her head on the bottom, and broken vertebrae in her neck. Just days away from her 18th birthday, Caitlin was paralyzed from the neck down.
"It was pretty tough," said Van Es, who's known Caitlin's family for a decade. "I wished I wasn't on the road, so I could go there and help them. I called everyday, trying to check on them. It was tough. You never really imagine that, and then it just happens."
And when it did, people around Caitlin - her friends, family, and even those that had never heard of her -- remembered their responsibility to care about others.
Almost immediately, fundraisers began popping up all over Hampton. Less than a month after the accident, $5,000 had been raised to fly Caitlin and her mother down to a rehabilitation facility in Atlanta, where the teenager will try to regain some arm movement (there's less than a 10 percent chance that she'll ever walk again).
On July 19, the Peninsula Stars youth softball team held a carwash for Caitlin.
"We raised about $700 in four hours," said coach Nancy Nichols, who grew up with Caitlin's mother. "We had people just drive up and hand us money, not even getting their car washed."
"I felt really bad for her and her whole family," said her daughter Ashley, "so I thought this would be a nice thing to do, to raise money for them. We had a lot of people here today; we had a bunch of backups, because we couldn't wash them fast enough." The same day, a yard sale at a local fire station brought in a few thousand dollars.
When Van Es's fellow minor leaguers found out about the accident, the Pilots decided to make their own contribution - as they scored a 10-1 victory over a team of military All-Stars in a July 20 exhibition, gate proceeds and other donations were collected for Caitlin.
"It's such a tragic moment that changed her life," said team owner Henry Morgan. "Kids her age play for us, and I had a hard time sleeping with that. We wanted to help her out."
His son Hank, who manages the squad, was glad they did.
"Our hearts went out to her right away, because it's something we've all done, diving into pools," Hank said. "It hit so close to home; I've got two children, and some nieces and nephews, and I remember when I was a kid. It was something that could have happened to anybody, and I think that a person's responsibility as a member of any community is to pick people up when they need to be picked up."
During the game, players like Deck McGuire traipsed through the stands of War Memorial Stadium, collecting donations from fans.
"It was quite an honor," McGuire said. "Playing here all summer, we have a great fanbase who comes out to every game, and it was nice to see people willing to lend a helping hand."
One fan and his organization loaned a different kind of help: Peninsula Auction House representative Jimmy Gordon handed in a wheelchair for Caitlin.
"I've had it for a couple months," Gordon said. "When I have things like that, I give them away, rather than sell them. It's no advantage for me to sell them; I'd rather give them away for their needs."
The Pilots' game raised over $1,000. A week later, the local American Legion played its District Three championship games at War Memorial, and raised about $675 for Caitlin's family.
"A local girl needed help, and that's what the American Legion does: help out people that need help," said Legion member Tommy Kyle, himself a retired firefighter. "This gave us another opportunity for community service."
Through it all, Caitlin's family tried to keep their spirits high for her, and each other.
"(Caitlin's) going very good," said her sister Erin, who threw out the first ball at the Pilots game. "She's got a great sense of support. It's certainly been a challenge, and very emotional, but we've gotten a lot of support from the community and the fire department, even people we don't know."
