As most of you know, Andrew was in a tragic diving accident in Cabo San Lucas on July 3rd resulting in a C5, C6 spinal cord injury. He had recently graduated from East High School and was planning on attending Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in September. Instead, Andrew is now spending the summer battling his way back to health and independence at Craig Hospital in Denver. He is doing everything in his power to get stronger every day with his loving family, Tom, Clare, and Erik along with his girlfriend, Toni, by his side. We all know him as an intelligent, bright, positive, athletic, artistic, musical and kind young man who will make the most of his time in rehab at Craig.

Tom, Clare, Erik and Andrew are givers, not receivers. We know this because so many of us have spent multiple Thanksgivings or Christmas Eves’ at their home, even bringing along our mothers, mothers-in-law and that third cousin from Okoboji. Over the years, scores of boys from East HS made the daily lunch trek to the Ouellette home with Erik and Andrew to raid the cabinets and refrigerator at lunch — the larders were restocked every day! Yes, Andrew and his family are some of the most generous and loving people you will ever meet. Many of us are now looking for a way to help sweet Andrew so that he can soon return to his active lifestyle and to his family and community that miss his bright smile.