(Nashville, TN) Again we are reminded how fragile life is. It was a little over a week ago that the tornado and flood waters swept across Middle Tennessee. There was still daylight left Wednesday evening, May 15, 2024, after the storm passed, so neighbors in Christiana began helping each other clear debris and push back fallen fences. It was then that 10-year-old Asher Sullivan lost his shoe and it went into a storm drain. He reached in to get it, but fell into the swift water and it took him under the road.

Emergency responders were there and they immediately began CPR. He was revived and rushed to Ascension St Thomas and then to the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt in Nashville.

Pray Vigil Saturday Tonight

Asher’s dad is Dr. Jimmy Sullivan, director of Rutherford County Schools. There was an outpouring of wanting to help from this community, and Jimmy said, “We need a miracle”, and asked for prayers.

That next day (5/9/2024), there was a standing room only gathering in front of the Rutherford County Board of Education building on Southpark Drive.

The community is having another Prayer Vigil at 6”00 o’clock tonight (Saturday, 5/8/2024) at The Fountains at Gateway, 1500 Medical Center Parkway.  

Jimmy and his wife Kayee posted on their social media page, “Had tough conversations (Friday 5/17/24) with doctors about the reality of Asher’s situation.”

Dr. Sullivan said that they have known since last week that Asher had anoxic brain injury (ABI) due to a lack of oxygen to the brain.

The local school director posted, “Realistically, we don’t expect Asher to recover, but we are checking and rechecking all the boxes to ensure we’ve done all we can before making that decision.”

He closed, “We love you Asher.”

Again, the Community Prayer Vigil is tonight (Saturday, 5/18/2024) at 6:00 o’clock in The Fountains at Gateway.