Jimmy Don Owings's First Responder's Memorial Scholarship

12/30/2021

Our lucky number is 2, watch tomorrow night on Dock Clark’s Rocking Eve to see if we get lucky! 🍀

12/17/2021

We will be talking about the scholarship on the Dick Clark’s Rocking Eve show! If we win the Scholarship will get a big boost!

In August, the Louisiana Lottery gave players the chance to be a “Powerball First Millionaire of the Year” when it joined other lotteries across the nation i...

12/16/2021

Our Story

On April 8, 1991, I dropped of my children off at the sitter and went to work. I had four children and worked as a CNA at a nursing home in Paris Texas. The children Brandy age 6, Bernice age 5, Scott age 4, and Jimmy Don almost 9 months old. I had been using this sitter for almost seven months. She had started watching the kids when I went back to work after giving birth to Jimmy Don. I will never forget that horrible day! Brian and I drove down the street a little past 3: pm to pick up the kids. As we got closer to the house we saw the three oldest running in the street. When we stopped and ask the kids what they were doing in the street we found out they were alone. The sitter’s husband had taken Jimmy Don to the hospital and the sitter was nowhere to be found.
We raced to the hospital where our nightmare would start. I was told by the attending physician that my son "had been hurt badly". He said that my baby had fallen off the bed reaching for his bottle. “This was the story the ER staff had been told”. He tried to prepare me for what I would see. My sweet angel had his eyes taped shut, had tubes everywhere and was on a respirator because he could not breathe on his own. I can say that I heard the words he was saying but it in no way prepared me for what I would see.
We had not been there long when they told us that Jimmy Don had to be care flighted to Children’s Medical Center in Dallas. Our family had little income and the vehicle we had wouldn’t make the trip. There was a man in the ICU waiting room that had to be back in Dallas the next day and heard what was taking place. He offered to leave right then and take us to Dallas (I never did get that man’s name). I don’t remember the ride at all. I called some of my family which lived in Dallas and had them go to the hospital so my son wouldn’t be alone until I could get there it was a 1 1/2 hour drive to the hospital.
We arrived at the hospital and the staff would soon inform us of what was happening. They told us that Jimmy Don was a victim of “Baby Shaking Syndrome”. I had never heard of this. They explained that he was shaken violently and they had to run test to see if there was any brain activity. Over the next two days we met with doctors, nurses, and social service workers. I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t sleep it seemed all I did was cry. The doctor explained to me that Jimmy Don was a victim of “baby shaking syndrome” that they were running different test to see if there was any brain activity at all. He could not breath on his own he was on a ventilator. When a child is young his or her brain is not fully developed until around two or three years old so when a child is shaken their brain beats again the scull causing brain damage.
A lady with the organ donor organization met with me and Brian to discuss donating his organs. My first reaction was no, I didn’t want to believe he was gone. After Brian and I discussed it, he made me see that we could stop other parents from having to feel this unbearable pain that we were going through. We signed the papers, spoke to the nurses and my father literally picked me up and carried me out of the hospital because I could not make myself leave my son.
We went to my grandmother’s house that night, she lived in Dallas. That night at 2:30 in the morning I received a call from the nurse who had been the daytime caregiver for Jimmy Don, while he had been there, letting me know that the surgery was over, the machines were turned off and Jimmy Don was gone. She had wanted someone who she felt had been close to my son in the operating room for the recovery of the organs. She knew none of the family could be there so she went (off duty) and stayed until it was over.

12/16/2021

How the Scholarship came to be
April 8, 1991 was the most tragic time of my life, which I would have never survived without the generosity, love, and support of my family, friends and complete strangers! My son Jimmy Don Owings, almost 9 months old, was a victim of “Shaking Baby Syndrome". Jimmy Don was killed when he was shaken so severely that it caused brain damage. I have spent many days wondering who my son would be today, how many grand children he would have given us, and what a difference he could have made in society; however those are questions that will never be answered because someone shook Jimmy Don with such force it killed him. Even today I see more and more cases like this that are senseless tragedies that could have been prevented.
In 2007 my oldest son Scott was being deployed to Iraq with the army and I was hysterical at the thought of possibly loosing another child. I was paralyzed by fear and could not even function; I could not go through this again! My mind raced and I cried, barely getting out of bed most days. My sister Rose Brant is a police officer for Tarrant County Community College and she wanted to do something for me to either ease my mind or get my mind off of the possibility that I may lose another child. So she started the scholarship and for that I will be eternally grateful. The scholarship is something I focus on when my days get dark and I just want to disappear.
My sister started a scholarship fund in memory of Jimmy Don that would benefit anyone who wanted to go into any emergency field. So we went to work with our coordinator and starting sculpting what we wanted in the scholarship. I wanted the name to reflect our mission so we would name the scholarship, “The Jimmy Don First Responder’s Scholarship” in memory of Jimmy Don Owings.
I wanted the scholarship to help people who helped us along the way. The countless strangers that would come along though out our journey and help us navigate this senseless tragedy. The hospital staff in Paris and Dallas were instrumental in helping us say goodbye to our son, our nephew, our grandson, all while remaining professional and compassionate. This wasn’t just a job to any of these people it was a calling. We threw around who all we wanted to be able to help and came up with anyone entering Tarrant County College with the intent to pursue an associate degree or certification of completion in one of the following fields of study: criminal justice, fire fighter/fire protection, emergency medical services, paramedic program, Social Worker, or Lawyer.
We had the fund started now we just had to raise money. Our next goal was to see the Scholarship reach the endowment stage so that we can start paying out scholarships. So over the next several years we did what we could to raise money for the Scholarship. Our friends and family would donate to the fund and we truly appreciated every dime. As I sit here and write, reliving that day all that I can think about is the doctors, nurses, social workers, officers, the EMTs on the care flight and the many people God put in my path to help through those days and the ones to come.
This is a way for our family to give back the way complete strangers gave to us in 1991 when we lost our precious Jimmy Don. This scholarship is available at Tarrant County College and we have just reached our goal for this scholarship to reach the endowment stage and can continue to support it. To learn more about our story, you can go to our Face Book site https://www.facebook.com/jimmydon.owings
Although this was a horrible tragedy I can look back now and see all the strangers that stepped up and did things that helped us along the way. The bad thing is I never got any of their names. This Scholarship is a way to help others reach their goals, and make dreams a reality. This is our family’s way of trying to return some of the generosity we received from, law enforcement, doctors, nurses, social services, counselors, and complete strangers.
You can go directly to the foundation website foundation.tccd.edu/GIVE, input "Jimmy Don Owings First Responder Scholarship" in the comments section to ensure your gift is designated to this valuable scholarship.
I mourn my son every day, however with every gift this scholarship gives, every donation, every mention I feel in my heart and soul that Jimmy Don still lives on and makes a difference in others lives. Since April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month we have chosen to do our heaviest fundraising in April to bring awareness to this awful senseless tragedy and maybe together we can help others from having to endure the pain of having to bury a child! And ironically this scholarship was fully endowed on April 8, 2015, 24 Years to the day that we lost Jimmy Don. Please visit and share our page!! Jimmy Don you live on in our hearts and souls, and through this scholarship. I miss you everyday my Bugga Bear!!

12/15/2021

This is 100% true!

12/15/2021

04/29/2020

https://www.brproud.com/uncategorized/local-family-donates-face-masks-to-help-first-responders/?fbclid=IwAR1Yrlb97VnGXgSb0j5dvMvND6OA5U33hBmP-Lt1paGHe2tQidHH-h3J16U

ZACHARY, La (WVLA-WGMB)– April is Child Abuse Prevention Month and this year, the stay at home order is changing how a local family raises awareness. From Zachary, Louisiana to London, the fa…

04/29/2020

I’ve got some messages asking how to donate to the first responders scholarship, there are several ways to donate.

First: TCC Foundation secure online giving portal; as your gift is entered, put “Jimmy Don Owings First Responder Scholarship” in the comments section to ensure your gift is designated to this valuable scholarship.”

http://foundation.tccd.edu/GIVE

Second: PayPal me at [email protected]

Third: pm me for the address of the foundation or my address if you want to send a check instead of paying online.

And again thank you to all of you who make this possible.

11/26/2018

Two more days till giving Tuesday, if you would like to donate just click here. https://www.gofundme.com/Jimmydonowings we have just given out our fourth scholarship. The scholarship is for anyone attending TCC going into a Victims services field!

April 8, 1991, Is a day that forever changed our lives. I had four children and worked as a CNA at a nursing home in Paris Texas. I was at work when my son Jimmy Don Owings was a victim of "Baby Shaking Syndrome".�My children, Brandy age 6, Bernice age 5, Scott age 4, and Jimmy Don almost 9 month....