An entire community gathered in Marietta, Sunday, to honor a Boy Scout whose life was cut too short.
Vaughn Fletcher died last week from complications of heart failure. The 15-year-old was at a lock-in for his troop when he collapsed.
According to Fletcher's scout master Darden Borders, the teen had been on the gym floor playing games with his troop when they came upstairs to play video games. That's when his fellow scouts noticed him slumped over with no pulse. They started performing CPR, and called 911, but by that time, it was too late.
Classmates, family, friends, fellow Scouts and former teachers remembered the Marietta High School freshman during a celebration of life ceremony, where laughter, applause and sorrow filled the room.
"We remember one student who never seemed to have a bad day," Fletcher's 5th grade teacher said from the podium.
But, very early on, the teen struggled with serious health challenges. Just weeks after Fletcher was born, he had to undergo heart surgery. Many more surgeries followed. But, family and friends said those obstacles never let Fletcher dampen his spirits.
"When he was given the news about having another open heart surgery he took it in stride," Fletcher's teacher reflected. "The morning of his last operation, he was joking around with his parents and all the hospital staff, making them laugh."
A quality that all around him appreciated - those who knew Fletcher said he was always ready to give back to his community as a scout with his sense of humor and positive attitude.
"I know when I think of Vaughn, I will see that infectious smile and sparkling eyes," his teacher continued.
All that, in the face of incredible odds.
"I know that Vaughn lived more in in his 15 years than most people live in a lifetime," mourners remembered.
Despite his loss, Fletcher still lives on in the hearts of many.
"Everybody loved him," his scout master Borders told 11Alive.
Fletcher's family is asking donations in his name be made to either the Homeless Pets Foundation or Boy Scouts of America.
