As you all know, DAWG Nation began primarily as a way to pay tribute and honor our fallen teammate and friend Jack Kelly. Since the inception of DAWG Nation you can see the Kelly girls, Jack’s daughters, at just about every event. The ladies are always a great help but Jack’s middle daughter, Shannon, stands out from the crowd.
Shannon, who most resembles Jack in appearance, is an amazing young lady with an absolute heart of gold. You will see Shannon at every event working hard to make the event as successful as possible.
On January 14th a group of DAWGs and Dave Repsher’s friends headed to University Hospital to visit the Summit County hero. It was an emotional but very impactful meeting and everyone came out feeling touched.
However, the most amazing part to me was hearing about the wonderful lady in the blue vest.
Dave awoke from a six month coma in December. Looking at the long road ahead and prognosis of a much different life style, Dave contemplated whether the battle was worth it, as many burn victims do.
That’s where the lady in the blue vest came in. A volunteer in the burn center, she knows firsthand what Dave’s is going through. Burned over 87% of her body nine years ago she endured a very similar journey as Dave’s. She shared her amazing, heroic story with Dave and she showed Dave that she could still walk, talk, write, and have a normal life. She visits Dave regularly and has changed his outlook and inspired him to fight on.
Now to the part that I wouldn’t believe unless I was there myself, the name of the lady in the blue vest is also “Shannon Kelly”, coincidence? Perhaps. But both Shannon Kelly’s’, who have each endured tragedy & loss, have played an instrumental part in helping others and making a difference in our world. DAWG Nation is certainly fortunate to have them both in our corner of that world!
