More prayers needed - The young man has gone to God - Please pray for his family

Are prayer's to Chris and his family for a full recovery.
EH

Thinking of Chris and JT also tonight. peace shep

hello EH, hope all is well brother. got that Blackberry device yet?

Prayers for a speedy return to good health for Chris, also prayers for his parents in this very difficult time.

My heart hurts,...
My prayers are sent.

What a frightening story. I'm praying for Chris and his family.

Prayers going up.

quote:

All three games were canceled

Class move!

Not only do I pray for the injured player for a full recovery, but that every player from both teams learns from this tough lesson that he should pray every day. Every player should include in his prayer for God to keep them safe. To keep their teammates safe. And to keep their opponents safe.

I do like the fact the games were canceled - someone had the priorities correct. I dont think many people outside the baseball world understand how dangerous this game can be.

May God allow this young man a quick recovery and for the young man that hit the ball, may he understand that he was not at fault.

Was at the field at the time, alot of huddling and praying. Very emotional and moving moment.

If prayers can be felt, I promise you that young man felt them.

Thank you to all!

.

44.

.

Our family have you in our prays chris

More prayers from the Left Coast, praying hard for Chris' complete healing. I would also lift up in prayer the young man who was holding the bat, that he might feel peace and not blame himself for this situation.

God is good and in control. May He bring hope to Chris' parents, wisdom for the doctors and nurses, and peace for all concerned.

I too agree that the cancellation of the games was class. But then, we already knew that about Texans, didn't we?

god bless

May God be with this young man, his family and friends, and the doctors.

We are praying. Please update as news becomes available.

This, as of this mornings Star Telegram...
Parkland Hosp. is premier for head trauma. Please continue to pray.

News
Posted on Fri, Feb. 23, 2007email thisprint thisreprint or license thisGrapevine High pitcher in grave conditionBy DOMINGO RAMIREZ JR.
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER
GRAPEVINE - A Grapevine High School baseball player was in grave condition Thursday evening at a Dallas hospital after he was hit in the head by a line drive, police said.

Chris Gavora, a junior pitcher and outfielder, was in intensive care at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas.

Grapevine High School head baseball coach Tim McCune was at the hospital with the family.

The incident happened about 3 p.m. at the school's baseball field, police said.

Gavora was hit as the team warmed up before a game against Lake Highlands, said Grapevine police Sgt. Bob Murphy.

It was one of three games scheduled Thursday at Grapevine High as part of the Baylor Regional Medical Center First Pitch Classic tournament.

All three games were canceled, according to the Grapevine High School baseball team's Web site.

Assistant football coach Shane Eidson arrived at the high school shortly after hearing about the accident.

Eidson said another coach told him Gavora was pitching at pre-game batting practice when he was hit.

A baseball came off a bat in another cage, found its way through two nets and hit Gavora in the back of the head, Eidson said.

He was told that Gavora was in surgery late Thursday afternoon.

"That was relayed to me, so we're not sure of anything yet," Eidson said. "It's a devastating deal. All of these kids are real close."

Staff writers Trae Thompson and Mark Agee contributed to this report.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Domingo Ramirez Jr., 817-685-3822 ramirez@star-telegram.com

What a nightmare!

Prayers for all involved--for complete physical and emotional healing.

Praying for healing on the young man and comfort for his family.

We are praying for Chris' full and speedy recovery. I echo FutureBack.Mom's concern for the batter involved...please keep him in your prayers also.

Tears and prayers from Louisiana. God, please help this young man recover and please protect all of our children and keep them safe.

My son's high school team is in the same district with the team this young man plays for. After my son's team finished their game today, there was another team waiting to take the dugout. A player from that team led both teams in a spontaneous prayer for the injured boy.

A sign of God at work through our young people during a very difficult situation. Continued prayers for God's healing presence and strength for the family.

My prayers are with Chris and family

Front page in this morning's Dallas Morning News... please keep praying for this young man, his family, and the young men of the Grapevine HS baseball team:

Teammates of Grapevine player wait and pray

Pitcher's serious injury overwhelms students, teachers and coaches

01:09 AM CST on Saturday, February 24, 2007

By MARISSA ALANIS / The Dallas Morning News
malanis@dallasnews.com

A lone red jersey hung from the dugout Friday, a solemn tribute to the player fighting for his life after a freak accident.

The rare combination of missing safety netting and a line drive in a batting cage led to a serious head injury for Chris Gavora. The 17-year-old varsity baseball player was struck in the back of the head at Grapevine High School during warm-ups Thursday afternoon.

Officials are investigating the cause of the accident and reviewing safety procedures.

According to a statement from the Grapevine-Colleyville school district, Chris was pitching to a teammate in one of the school's four batting cages. He was standing behind the L-shaped pitcher's net designed to protect pitchers throwing batting practice.

"Preliminary findings indicate that secondary protective screen netting was not in place," the statement said. "A teammate in [another] cage hit a line drive that went through an opening in the net, across an open area, and through the other batting cage's opening."

Chris received first aid at the scene and was transported by ambulance to the hospital.

He remained in serious condition at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas after undergoing surgery Thursday. His family has requested privacy and declined to comment through the school.
Also Online

Officials: Netting missing when baseball struck player | WFAA-TV's Craig Civale reports

Accident leaves coaches rethinking batting cage safety

Chris was not wearing a helmet. District officials said pitchers typically don't wear them.

Megan Overman, school district spokeswoman, said the protective screen netting should have been in place, as it's a secondary measure.

She said the incident was unusual.

"The chances were very slim for this to happen," she said.

The school district said it was investigating all softball and baseball safety procedures. Details of those procedures weren't available Friday. But Ms. Overman said there are always safety discussions between the coaches and athletes.

Chris is a junior and is an outfielder and pitcher. Games associated with the Baylor Classic Tourney were canceled Thursday but resumed Friday.

Coaches and players were instructed by the district not to comment to the media. Head coach Tim McCune did not return calls for comment.

Parents contacted at Friday's game against Lake Dallas declined to comment.

All batting cages at the district's two high schools as well as the softball fields at Cross Timbers Middle School were inspected before use on Friday, officials said.

"Our hearts and support have been extended to the family," Superintendent Kay Waggoner said in the written statement. "It is always incredibly difficult when a member of our GCISD family is involved in an accident or injury of any kind, and we are keeping the student and his family, along with teammates, friends, staff and coaches, in our thoughts and prayers."

A crisis counseling team was at Grapevine High School to help students and staff cope. Students held a moment of silence for Chris and his family during Friday morning announcements.

"Everybody was quiet," said Robert Turner, a Grapevine High junior. "We all respected that moment."

Alexa Caprielian, 16, said their speech teacher decided to let students talk about what happened to help them cope.

Braxton Banning, a Grapevine High sophomore, said his science teacher let his class attend the varsity baseball game at noon Friday against Lake Dallas High School to support the team.

"We're all just really hoping for the best," said Jenna Woods, a Grapevine High sophomore.

Players and coaches across North Texas said prayers for the Gavora family.

Lake Dallas baseball coach Derek Matlock said his team was arriving for the tournament Thursday just as the ambulance was pulling away. This is every coach's worst nightmare, he said.

"You build relationships with your players," he said. "When something happens to them, it is like it happened to your own son."

Coppell High School head coach Don English said that in his 25 seasons of coaching high school baseball, only twice has he had players struck in the head with baseballs while working out in batting cages, or as he calls them, "batting tunnels." He said both times the kids had their jaws broken.

"To get hit in the back of the head like that, that's just a freak deal," he said. "As long as we play this game, there will be some freaky things happen. We all try to do the best we can to be proactive and prevent any serious accidents."

Most coaches worry more about players getting struck by a baseball during a game.

"Do we all need to take stronger precautions with kids in batting tunnels? Absolutely," Mr. English said. "It's one of those things where we need to buckle down and do everything we can to keep our kids safe."

There's always a risk of players being injured. Baseball and softball accounted for the fifth highest number of head injuries treated in U.S. emergency rooms in 2005, according to numbers from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

"I worry about it more when we're hitting out on the field rather than when we're in a cage," Carrollton Creekview baseball coach Brian Jones said. "In a cage, it's more of a controlled situation."

Chris' friends and teammates offered their prayers and support through messages posted on his MySpace page. In some messages, they referred to Chris by his jersey number.

"Chris buddy...from all the team to you man we love you and hope you get better," wrote one MySpace user. "[You're] in our prayers and we love you man. we'll see you tomorrow numba 17."

Friend Chloe Joyner said the odds of the accident happening were a million to one.

"I'm still in disbelief at this moment," she said Friday evening. "I feel like I'm living in an alternate reality and that I'm going to wake up and everything is going back to normal."

Chloe met Chris in science class. She said he moved from Virginia at the beginning of the school year and offered to help her as she struggled with chemistry.

"He's the sweetest guy, and he's helped me a lot," the 16-year-old said. "He's helped a lot of people. ... He's always helping people."

Chloe said even students who didn't know Chris were upset Friday. Several teachers were seen crying.

"There wasn't a lot of laughing," she said. "It's interesting how this new student – something happens to him and it affects everybody."

Chloe said the thought of losing Chris is terrifying, but she also knows that he is a fighter.

"He wouldn't give up on me, and so I'm not going to give up on him," she said.

Continued prayers for Chris Gavora's recovery, and for his family and friends to be comforted.

Sad to note that Keller Dad has posted an update in the Texas forum with a news link that Chris has passed away this afternoon (Saturday).

Our thoughts and prayers continue for his family, the player that swung the bat and all involved.

Please read the news story and check the safety of your batting cages.

Here is the link to the local news reports...(the first one does not appear to be linking properly)

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/16775332.htm

http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/highschools/t...lplayer.d37b663.html

This is a tragic loss and my heart hurts for Chris's family, friends and teammates.

I am so very sorry at this heartbreaking news.

quote:

The Death of Lazarus

Now a certain man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village where Mary and her sister Martha lived.

Now it was Mary who anointed the Lord with perfumed oil and wiped his feet dry with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.

So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, “Lord, look, the one you love is sick.”

When Jesus heard this, he said, “This sickness will not lead to death, but to God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

(HERE IS THE ARTICLE THAT WAS NOT LINKING PROPERLY)

Grapevine ballplayer injured in batting cage dies
By DOMINGO RAMIREZ JR. and KATHERINE CROMER BROCK
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITERS
Chris Gavora, a junior pitcher at Grapevine High School, remained in grave condition Friday after being hit in the head by a baseball.
www.myspace.com / Chris Gavora
Chris Gavora, a junior pitcher at Grapevine High School, remained in grave condition Friday after being hit in the head by a baseball.
More photos

* Chris Gavora's MySpace page

GRAPEVINE -- Grapevine High School athlete Chris Gavora, who was injured Thursday while practicing at a school batting cage, died sometime after noon Saturday, the Dallas Medical Examiner's Office reported Saturday.

No other details were available.

School leaders are trying to find out why a protective screen netting that might have prevented Gavora's fatal injury was absent Thursday from the high school's batting cages.

Gavora, 17, was struck in the back of the head by a line drive during batting practice Thursday afternoon as Grapevine High's varsity team warmed up for a tournament game.

Gavora, who wrote on his MySpace page about his love of "sports, friends, girls, music, having fun," had undergone surgery Thursday night.

"Our hearts and support have been extended to the family," Grapevine-Colleyville school district Superintendent Kay Waggoner said in a news release. "It is always incredibly difficult when a member of our GCISD family is involved in an accident or injury of any kind, and we are keeping the student and his family, along with teammates, friends, staff and coaches, in our thoughts and prayers."

Three tournament games at Grapevine High were canceled Thursday. Play resumed Friday, but the batting cages will be closed throughout the tournament this weekend.

On Friday, Grapevine High School's baseball team took to their home field Friday night with "17" painted on each player's left cheek after a long team prayer in the left-field grass.

Hanging in the dugout was a red T-shirt with the same number under the name Gavora -- a reminder of missing teammate Chris Gavora.

When he was struck, Gavora was in one of the school's four batting cages, pitching to a teammate from behind a pitcher's net, according to the news release.

A teammate in a batting cage behind Gavora "hit a line drive that went through an opening in the net, across an open area, and through the other batting cage's opening," where Gavora was pitching, the news release said.

Coaches and trainers who were on the field rushed to Gavora and administered first aid, the release said.

District officials said Friday that a second layer of netting should have been installed over the cage openings, which are behind the pitchers in each cage.

All batting cages at Grapevine and Colleyville Heritage high schools and at Cross Timbers Middle School were inspected Friday. Baseball and softball safety procedures were also being reviewed, according to the release.

The Grapevine High batting cages will be re-opened when the second layer of netting is installed, probably on Tuesday, according to the district.

A crisis counseling team was at Grapevine High on Friday to assist students and staff. During morning announcements, school officials honored the family with a moment of silence.

Gavora last logged into his MySpace account on Thursday. His page says that he is a New York Yankee fan who likes rock music and digitally animated movies, such as Ice Age.

After the accident, a list of friends on the page shows that several of his teammates have changed their profile names to "Pray for 17," in honor of Gavora's uniform number.

Starting at 3:36 p.m. Thursday, minutes after the accident, messages of support started flooding in.

"Stay strong chris," one friend wrote. "you've got about a million people ready to see your gorgeous smile again. see you soon."

Another friend wrote: "Hey man, you gotta get better ... we have to many memories left to make. you gotta open your resteraunt. you gotta graduate and we have to find somewhere to live like we talked about 800 million times."

May God Bless his family

My heart is so sad right now, and tho I know he is with the Lord, it is his parents, family, loved ones, and friends who must deal with the void now, and that breaks my heart. Losing a child is, I believe, one of if not the hardest things to deal with.

May his family feel the comfort of God's loving arms as they grieve their loss.

My heart goes out to this young man and his family.
May God Bless.

My heart aches for the family and friends of this young man...may the prayers that were said to bring him back be, instead, prayers of healing and God's presence in the lives of his family, teammates and classmates and all those whose lives he touched.

We lost a brother on earth today, but God welcomed a child home.

Incredible sadness. My sincere condolences to the family and friends of Chris Gavora. I too will pray for them to find solace.

Shock,.......
pure silence,...
incredible sadness


I am at a loss for words.
I send my prayers not only to the family but to the entire community.

Dear Lord,..please hold them all tightly.

I am so so sorry. I am sooo saddened.

What a tremendously sad story. May God and their community comfort the Gavora's, friends, and team in such a sad loss. My thoughts and prayers for all.

This is very sad, my prayers go to the family.

I hope this was not due to negligence on anyone's part.

I think we are all so sad and in prayerful thought... I know of nothing sadder than the death of a young one... may God provide solace to his family and friends...

My thoughts and prayers go out to the family.

Julie i sent you a P.M.

I just saw this very sad thread. Our prayers will be with Chris, his family and everyone else associated with this tragic accident.

Please, everyone, take this as a reminder to have your schools check their nets. We've all been tragically reminded, lets not let this happen again, anywhere.

What a terrible tragedy. I can only imagine how difficult this must be for the family. My thoughts and prayers for all those who are suffering from the loss of this young man.

Oh my God.

I am so devastated to read about this.

My prayers and tears are for Chris and his family, of course, and his friends and teammates, but especially for the boy who hit the ball. It certainly wasn't his fault, but I'm sure he feels that it was. What a tragedy.

Baseball is truly a violent sport.

What a sad story. I wish peace and understanding and God's love to everyone in the baseball community.

I'm normally one who has words of encouragment.....but in this situation I dont know what to say except may our good Lord hold us all in his hands

According to the Booster Club president at the high school Chris attended, he was an organ donor and his heart was transplanted into a 10 year old Arkansas girl to give her a chance at life.

From tragedy, God gives hope.

quote:

From tragedy, God gives hope.

Thanks for letting us know about this. Wow. What a family.

Prayers for the little girl, too. I can't imagine that scenario, either.......

quote:

but especially for the boy who hit the ball

..............

T-Bird Dad:

catcher09 has stated my thoughts exactly.

This is just so sad.

Thank you T-Bird Dad for informing us of this generous gift of life Chris and his family provided.

God is good. His goodness is now beating in the chest of a 10 year old Arkansas girl. Imagine her gratitude. Imagine the gratitude of her parents and family.

What a terrible thing to happen. I can not believe how the family is feeling. That also includes all his teammates and students. My prayers are with them now and always. God Bless.

Such grief for not only the family but for the poor kid who hit him.

I'm curious why in the world A) the cages were set up the way they are and B) why there wasn't any netting???

There was netting, but, as you know, there are gaps in some netting for entrance/exit. Generally, they will double layer (with no gap) the netting to prevent this very thing. Without personal knowledge, apparently the second layer was not there.

Still, a freak accident to clear through two gaps in the netting.

Timing is everything.
Today is the first official day for HS baseball to begin in Kansas. Tryouts throughout our league start today.

I spoke to my son about this story.

As un upperclassman this year, suggested that he take it upon himself to be aware of safety and the safety of his teammates.
A point we had taken for granted up until now.
We had not said the actual words.

Figured it never hurts to say it one more time.

Perhaps this tragic story will remind all of us starting fresh this baseball season that although inevitably, tragedies do happen and can not always be avoided, we CAN make it OUR job to
be aware and willing, to ALWAYS go that extra step to ensure that all safety procedures are enforced, not overlooked, or taken for granted.
Everyone inspect your equipment, check the cages, check the netting. Dont take for granted that someone else has done this. As parents, players, coaches, administrators,( etc. ) lets make this OUR problem and no one elses. A joint committment to safety. Perhaps a positive step towards awareness shall come from such tragedy.

God rest this athletes soul and bring comfort to those that are hurting so deeply.

As a baseball parent, I know the entire baseball community/family is deeply saddened and effected.
It happened to one of our own.
It could happen to anyone of us.

Play hard,...play smart,....play safe!!!
~ God Bless ~

quote:

Originally posted by T-Bird Dad:
Still, a freak accident to clear through two gaps in the netting.

T-Bird - I'm not there and can't SEE the situation firsthand so thanks for the clarification. Were the cages side-by-side?

There were a total of four "sleeves" side-by-side and then stacked:

________________________ _______________________
[ ] [ ]
[_______________________] [_______________________]

________________________ _______________________
[ ] [ ]
[_______________________] [_______________________]

The pitchers were throwing behind "L" screens with their backs to each other standing towards the middle sections witht he batters towards the ends in each cage, therefore, the ball had to travel through the end of one and through the end of another one to hit the boy. Even without the double layer, one in a million.

Sorry, I tried to diagram it, but it didn't look like it did on the reply post...but maybe you can get the gist of it.

Thanks. I get it. What a shame.

This is a very sad story. Hopefully, it will get a lot of coaches thinking about batting cage safety.

Hopefully it will get a lot of coaches thinking about safety in general.

our thoughts and prayers go out to those who grieve for this young man. can't even imagine the pain .god bless

It took me a while to post because I am devasted by this and did not know what to say.

Lord, God, please take this child into your arms and watch over him for eternity. Please let his parents find strength through faith in you.

Devastating… a pitcher’s parent nightmare… prayers offered up…. Please keep us posted.

God Bless this young man and his family… may GOD send HIS angels to aid and comfort them.

I am continually thinking about this child and his family. My heart hurts deeply for them and all those who are directly involved. Continued prayers are being said in our household.