Asher Sullivan organ donation to help 4 others, 'so he will live on in them,' father says

Dozens of people gathered Monday night for a memorial prayer vigil and moment of silence for Asher Sullivan after an organ donation from the boy who died from storm injuries.

Asher's father, Rutherford County Schools Director James "Jimmy" Sullivan posted on social media on the same night as the prayer vigil about his 10-year-old son's organ donation after the boy's official death on Saturday.

Sullivan's youngest son had been at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt in Nashville following the boy's critical injuries after the May 8 storm swept through Middle Tennessee.

"Today was the hardest day so far," Sullivan wrote. "Today we said goodbye to Asher after his honor walk for organ donation. We walked him through the fifth floor and to the elevators that go down to the OR. Asher gave the gift of organ donation to four others so he will live on in them.

"I will live my life to honor his spirit and to make sure he is never forgotten."

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Vigil honors Asher and his family

In the days after Asher was injured and hospitalized, Sullivan's social media posts captured national attention.

His weekend posts, informing the public of his son's death, inspired local businesswoman Jessica Hood to organize Monday's memorial gathering at the picnic pavilion in front of Rockvale Elementary School off the busy New Salem Highway.

"It was extremely heavy on my heart," said Hood, a mother of three. Her oldest, Mckenlee, 13, attends Eagleville School, and her two youngest Alyza, 11, and Bristyl, 9, go to Rockvale Elementary. "This has affected us tremendously."

Prior to Asher being hospitalized, the boy was playing with other kids in the water that had accumulated in the street while neighbors gathered to begin the cleanup process after severe storms moved through Middle Tennessee earlier in the day. He somehow "got caught in the storm drain and was swept under the neighborhood streets," Sullivan previously wrote on social media.

Sullivan shared on social media that his son officially died Saturday because of a lack of brain function. His body was being kept alive Monday for organ donation, "so that Asher can promote life in others," the boy's father wrote.

"We will conduct an honor walk within the next day or so as we walk Asher down the halls of the hospital to the OR to see him one final time," Sullivan wrote Sunday night.

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Thousands follow Asher's story

Thousands of people have followed Sullivan's social media posts for updates on Asher since the May 8 incident. Sullivan posted on May 10 that a doctor told him and his wife that their son would not survive after the boy showed no signs of brain activity and was not breathing on his own.

Asher had attended Christiana Elementary School on the southside of Rutherford County.

Many from the school's tight-knit community joined a prayer vigil that included more than 500 people that gathered to show support for Asher and his family on May 9. Students, teachers, parents and young children gathered on sidewalks, the parking lot, landscaped grassy areas and under shade trees to pray and sing, "Amazing Grace" in front of the Rutherford County Schools central office.

'Asher needs a miracle': Middle Tennessee prayer vigil sees 500+ after storm injures boy

Others showed support by wearing more than 6,000 sports helmet stickers with an "A" for Asher on a star-like logo for Vanderbilt, one of the boy's favorite baseball teams. The stickers were donated to area teams by Hood, owner of JM Embroidery & More in Rockvale, and others made donations to cover the costs, she said.

"God just talked to me," Hood said. "God does bring good out of everything."

Requests for the stickers have come from teams in Tennessee, Illinois, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia, Hood told the people who gathered for the prayer vigil and moment of silence Monday at Rockvale Elementary.

Those gathered for the memorial prayed for Asher and the Sullivan family and listened to a Bible reading from Mike Cirricione, pastor at One Church Barfield.

Several families brought children. Among them was 10-year-old Hunter Loonan, a fourth-grader at Rockvale Elementary who had played on same youth baseball team as Asher.

Reach reporter Scott Broden with news tips or questions by emailing him at sbroden@dnj.com. To support his work with The Daily News Journal, sign up for a digital subscription.

This article originally appeared on Murfreesboro Daily News Journal: Asher Sullivan organ donation to help 4 others after boy's death