Dutch Mantell passed this along.
AMELIA GRAND CANYON FUND
http://www.wate.com/story/19288443/family-mourns-maryville-teen-killed-in-head-on-crash
On Tuesday afternoon, August 14th, my world shattered. My phone rang at my home in Tennessee with a call from my daughter who frantically informed us that our sweet 16 year old granddaughter, Amelia, had been in a car accident. Amelia had left school and was on her way back to her house to pick up her pom poms for dance practice. Her house was less than 10 minutes from the school. Sadly to say, our little Amelia didn’t make it home. She was hit headon by a scumbag druggie who was speeding down the highway trying to elude a police officer who had just clocked him doing 73 MPH in a 55 zone. In the blink of an eye, he crossed over the median and crashed head on into my baby Amelia’s car.
I quickly dialed my daughter’s husband Will, who had driven up on the accident on his way back from work that day. I asked Will what was going on and he told me that the State Troopers were telling him to get the family together to head to Knoxville. They didn’t tell him anymore. Just get the family together because it didn’t look good. A call or two later, I heard the words no parent or grandparent should ever hear. He told me and I will never forget the words or the tone he used when he told me, “Wayne, man, I don’t know how to tell you this. But she’s gone’.
So, in the wink of an eye as the Bible says, our beautiful 16 year old granddaughter had passed. Her mother, Amanda, and my wife, Cathy are devastated. We all are. I want to thank each and every wrestling fan and wrestler who have emailed, texted or called to express condolences for our loss. I never realized that I had so many friends or acquaintances until this tragedy struck.
Amelia was a beautiful 16 year old junior in high school, a Spirit Leader on the HS dance team, who aspired to be a nurse when she grew up. Her funeral service was held late Thursday afternoon and over 1200 people packed the church. She was cremated early Friday morning.
Amelia was my IDOL and my HERO. My daughter Amanda loved to travel and she once took Amelia to the Grand Canyon where Amelia remarked that the Grand Canyon was the most beautiful place on earth. My daughter would like to return there to disperse Amelia to the wind. I am asking anyone who would like to contribute to the Amelia Grand Canyon Fund to donate a few dollars via PayPal to send Amelia to where a place she loved. I am appealing to the wrestling community that I am to help this family do something that they won’t be able to do themselves. Her mother Amanda thinks this would be a fitting conclusion to a life cut short. Thank you wrestling fans…and thank you for allowing me to perform in front of you for many years. Please help me with the Amelia Grand Canyon Fund. I can cry no more. Now is the time to help.
One thing about Amelia, she didn’t understand the wrestling business but once I got her and her friends tickets to WWE and TNA event in Knoxville. She fell in love with it. She once asked me if I thought she could be a DIVA. I told her that she already was a DIVA and she always would be.
If you would like to donate $5, $10, $25 or whatever you can to this cause, it would be greatly appreciated. You can send your donation via PayPal to dirtydutchmantell@gmail.com. For those who don’t have PayPal, please contact us at the same email address and we will provide a physical address if you prefer to pay in cash or by check.
Thank you wrestling fans….
Wayne Keown aka Dirty Dutch Mantell