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Ken Lett Jr. is coming home. And area residents are being asked to make that welcome home something special.
In a social media post by David and Liz Knowles, a movement is underway to “paint the town red.”
“As many of you know, TRM student Ken Lett was injured while playing in a football game this past September,” the Knowles post read. “Since then, following initial care in Mobile, he has been in Atlanta, Georgia, at the Shepherd Center for Brain and Spinal Cord Injury undergoing intensive rehabilitation. His mother, Dr. Tonya Lett, Assistant Principal at Brewton Middle School, has recently posted on social medai that Ken will be discharged on Friday, January 10 and coming home to Brewton. With reference to the old song many of us older folks now.. “Tie a yellow ribbon ‘round the old oak tree”… Lett’s tie a big red ribbon ‘round a tree/sign/ post in our yards/businesses to welcome Ken and his fmaily back home. Lett’s ‘paint’ the town red with bows showing our love for Ken and his family.”
The athlete’s mother, Tonya, is the assistant principal at Brewton Middle School and has spent much of her time with her son at the Shepherd Center.
“I know that we all are ready to go home, but we have made some great friends (from patients to families to nurses to techs to therapists to counselors to doctors) that we will truly miss,” Tonya said. “A previous nursing tech that we had several weeks ago came by. She is contracted in and out so her schedule fluctuates. Ken was her regular patient during her last contract. She just started back on another contract for which she will be a floater so Ken will not be her patient. But when she got back and saw that we were still here she said she had to come by to say hello. We told her that we were discharging Friday and she asked if she could pray with us! That’s the type of family like love that we have experienced here and will definitely miss. But, we are very excited to be coming home!”
Lett said the ‘red ribbon’ gesture being organized by the Knowles family is nothing short of amazing.
“Thank you David and Liz Knowles for the thoughtful gesture of tying red ribbons to welcome us back home – truly amazing,” Tonya said. “We are very excited and can’t hardly wait to get back! We love our Brewton family and community!”
Lett, who is a sophmoore at T.R. Miller High School, has been described as an outstanding athlete and student. During the time since his injury, school and community members have rallied to support the injured player and his family. Through sales of specially designed t-shirts and other fundraisers, the family has been supported in prayer and financially through the recovery period for Lett.
The shirts with the “B21IEVE” designed were adopted by other schools including W.S. Neal High School and Flomaton High School, as a community-wide effort to show support for the family was seen.
Lett was injured in the opening plays of a game on Sept. 27 between the T.R. Miller Tigers and the UMS-Wright team. The player, who suffered a broken neck in the opening play of the game, was air-lifted to USA Medical Center in Mobile following the incident. He was later transferred to The Shepherd Center in Atlanta to receive treatment from the injury.
The family is expected to be home Friday with a ‘Red Ribbon’ welcome.