Charity event planned one year after tragic drowning
Stephen Szucs | The Chronicle-Telegram
Tom Smith still sees the face of his dead son in crowds several times a day, and Barb Glass can’t ever seem to wake up from the nightmare she knows is a reality.
The Elyria parents each lost their sons a year ago today when Daniel “Danny” Smith, 19, and Brandon Glass, 20, drowned after an undertow pulled both underwater at Avon Lake’s Miller Road Park beach.
The two were young — fresh out of Elyria High School — and their deaths couldn’t have come about from anything more innocent.
“We were out in the water just jumping around,” said Corie Hughes, Smith’s girlfriend of three years, who was in the water with them. “I can’t help but think about all the fun that was happening before that moment. Then I looked back and Danny called ‘Help,’ and I couldn’t see Brandon. In a blink of an eye they needed help, then Danny was gone.”
It was Hughes’ voice that was recorded in a frantic 911 call — asking for help and telling emergency dispatchers that she feared her friends had drowned.
Smith’s body was discovered a day later, while Glass’s would remain missing for three days.
“When you’re young, you don’t think stuff like that is going to happen to you,” Hughes said.
Smith and Glass grew up less than a mile from one another in the Eastern Heights neighborhood of Elyria, and they enjoyed riding skateboards and BMX bikes before moving on to cars and hanging out with friends.
Both got a kick out of making people laugh, and both had a knack of letting the people in their lives know they cared about them.
“Dan was man enough to realize that a hug was probably the most important thing you could give a person,” said his father, Tom Smith. “He wasn’t afraid to say he loved me. So many dads and sons don’t say that — I’m lucky.”
Barb Glass, Brandon’s mother, similarly remembers her son — kind, gentle, funny and way too young to die.
“It’s not that he’s out of my mind — I’ll never forget him,” she said. “He’s one big memory to me. He never did anything to disappoint me or hurt me. He was just a joy.”
Today, Barb Glass will return to the beach for the first time since search crews pulled her son’s body from the water. She’ll be joined by Hughes, who regularly joins her friends at the beach on the 19th of every month.
Tom Smith is unsure whether he’ll ever be able to go back to the beach, but he plans on being part of a charity poker run on Sunday on behalf of the boys. The event will raise money for toy donations for local underprivileged kids at Christmas.
“It’s inspiring how people who don’t even know our sons stepped up to the plate,” Tom Smith said. “(The poker run) will honor our boys and help other kids out — I couldn’t be more proud.”
Contact Stephen Szucs at 329-7129 or sszucs@chroniclet.com.
Charity Poker Run
WHY: In memory of Brandon Glass and Danny Smith.
WHEN: 11 a.m. Sunday; last bike out at noon.
WHERE: Begins at Lake Erie Harley-Davidson, 38401 Chester Road, Avon, and ends at Sebastian’s Nite Club, 39421 Center Ridge Road, North Ridgeville.
COST: $10 per bike or couple.
INFO: Friends and family are welcome to join the party afterward at 4 p.m. at Sebastian’s Nite Club. All proceeds and donations can be made at First Merit Bank, Eastgate Branch, South Abbe Road, Elyria. Contact Angel Norris at (440) 315-1898.
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Filed by Stephen Szucs | The Chronicle-Telegram July 19th, 2008 in Top Stories. Popularity: 10% |
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Comments
Comment from
Star0118
July 19, 2008, 12:46 pm
RIP Danny and Brandon, You are missed and loved dearly.
I cant believe its already been a year.
RIP
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