Written by Brittany Morehouse
Channel 9 NEWS NOW
Last Updated: 11/29/2007 12:10:35 AM
WASHINGTON DC (WUSA) - Students and their parents gathered inside St. John's auditorium Wednesday night for a third prayer service honoring a cross country star who died in his sleep.
Carl Waclawik, 15, died Saturday night in his sleep. The mysterious death stunned family members and friends who said the sophomore runner did not have any medical conditions. Although an official autopsy report is still pending, the toxicology results came back negative, ruling out any drugs in Waclawik's system. Doctors are looking into whether he had a genetic marker for heart arrhythmia.
His father, Phillip Waclawik, said the family of four had spent a peaceful week doing activities together. On Saturday, Waclawik helped his dad rake leaves, which was their most strenuous activity from that week. When Waclawik went into his son's room the next morning, he found his son wasn't breathing.
On Wednesday, family members joined the school community for a night of sharing. St. John's president, Brother Thomas Gerrow, FSC, began with a brief prayer and introduction.
"I believe there is a divine plan an dthat will put a true value to this great tragedy," he said. "Carl's life was, is and always will be a great gift to us so let us bow our heads and celebrate this great gift."
Students spoke at a podium one by one, sharing happy memories of their friend. Khadijah Daniels, a junior, described how she first met Wacklowik on the cross country team. When they became best friends, he established a myspace group page in her honor as a joke. He named the page "Khadijah is life. The rest is just details."
"I almost feel kind of sympathy for people who didn't know him because he was such an awesome person," she said.
Many students wore wrist bands and head bands in his honor, which reflects how attached the teen was to his school. They also signed a dedication book for his parents.
"When he got to St. John's here. He just blossomed," said Waclawik about his son. "This year he joined the ROTC junior club and that really established him as a man of St. John's. He became a person of integrity and he really matured through his participation in that program."
St. John's has held a service every day for the teen. On Thursday, school will be dismissed at 2:00pm. There will be a student lead prayer service at St. Martin?s Church at
approximately 3:30pm, which will conclude the first viewing. On Friday, classes will be canceled for the funeral liturgy. Transportation will be provided by St. John?s for students and staff to the Gaithersburg services.
Students talked about how Wacklowik marveled at a fact he learned recently. He couldn't believe that each person affects an estimated 50,000 people in their life span. Friends believe the young man touched that many in just 15 years.
Please provide corrections as needed....
Researcher::
Jim Radja
Vienna, Virginia, US of A
