After drunk driving accident, Oaks Christian junior returns to his school and church.
By JJ Bowman
Associate Editor
The sight of an injured student returning to the stands of a high school football game to wild cheers and a standing ovation may be cliché in the movies. For Oaks Christian student Michael Rivas, a junior, who received such an ovation weeks after losing his leg in a head on collision involving a drunken driver, it was real life.
Rivas, the son of humanities professor Dr. Darlene Rivas, was traveling to a youth retreat with his father and three other members of the Conejo Valley Church of Christ. The accident took the life of 15-year-old Kimberly Kimble-Gast, sister of Pepperdine senior Erin Calderon, and cost Rivas his left leg. He also had his spleen removed and doctors were able to reattach his right leg. Hours before the accident, Rivas scored a touchdown for the Oaks Christian varsity football team.
Rivas spent the four weeks following the accident in various hospitals, but because of his physical and emotional strength was able to take on the challenges facing him, Darlene Rivas said.
“Those things (Michael’s youth, strength and character) were all in his favor,” she said. “They helped him heal, and the strength … helped him be more mobile.”
She said her son will not be able to put any weight on his right ankle until mid-December. At that time, he will start physical therapy to help him begin walking again. Darlene Rivas also said Michael is in the process of finding a prosthesis for his left leg.
As he continues to recover, Darlene Rivas said she is confident that her son will be able to maintain his generous spirit.
“It’s something that has impacted him for a lifetime, and yet I have confidence that he will use the struggles and the pain he’s been through to help other people,” she said.
Conejo Valley youth minister Jack Williamson said Rivas has already involved himself back with the youth group. Darlene Rivas said he also attends half-days at his high school.
Michael’s mother said friends from the youth group have been an incredible source of support and strength. She said she is amazed at “how loving and faithful his friends have been” and at their loyalty to Michael.
Besides giving support to Michael, the Conejo Valley Church of Christ has also organized a scholarship fund in the memory of Kimble-Gast. Williamson is the director of the Southern California Teen Camp that serves Church of Christ students in middle school and high school throughout Southern California. Kimble-Gast attended the camps before, and the “Kim Kimble Teen Camp Fund” will help students attend who otherwise would not be able to afford the costs.
Communication professor Dr. Michael Murrie said Kimble-Gast’s high school, Agoura High, would also establish a fund to help students pay for school fees, including the costs associated with being on a sports team. Kimble-Gast was the captain of the junior varsity cheerleading squad.
Murrie and his wife, Jackie, had petitioned the probate court to become permanent guardians of Kimble-Gast, whose mother died unexpectedly six weeks before the accident. Murrie said Kimble-Gast had discussed becoming an organ donor before her death, and when it became clear that she would not recover from the head trauma caused by the accident, the decision was made to donate her organs.
Murrie was notified Oct. 9, nearly three weeks after the accident, that several people benefited from her organs. A 50-year-old single mother with two daughters received her left kidney and pancreas to combat the woman’s type I diabetes. She had been waiting since March of 2002 for a donor, Murrie said.
Another man with type II diabetes and on dialysis received her right kidney. He had been waiting since February of 2002 and has two sons and three grandchildren.
A 34-year-old woman with cardiomyopathy received the teenager’s heart.
Anyone wishing to donate to her scholarship fund may send money to the Kim Kimble Teen Camp Fund c/o the Conejo Valley Church of Christ, 2525 East Hillcrest Drive, Thousand Oaks, CA, 91362. Williamson said all amounts of donations are welcome and appreciated.
November 06, 2003