BATH, Maine — A "social butterfly" and as "happy as he could be" is how Nathan and Stephanie Briggs described their seven-year-old son, Evan Briggs. Now suddenly, all the things they love about him have become things they miss.
Nathan Briggs was used to watching his two boys play sports. "I mean, I coached every team they had from Kindergarten to first and second grade and every sport. Sometimes it was double sports in the same season," Nathan Briggs said.
Evan was Briggs' oldest son, and when he was trying out for the Bath YMCA's new flag football team, his dad viewed it simply as another fun activity for them to try.
"I watched him run off with a football in his arm and I went and gathered my water bottles and when I turned around, he was down," he said.
Only one minute into the practice, the family's lives changed forever. Evan collapsed from sudden cardiac arrest, according to his parents.
"He pretty much died in my arms and after the hour of them trying I heard one doctor say, 'Does anybody else have anything they can think of?' and right then I knew he was gone."
Since then, the Briggs have been retracing Evan's steps looking for reasons, taking them back to his birth. Evan was born with holes in his heart, and at five months old, had surgery to repair them.
Evan's father still remembers the day of the surgery. He said, "We were in on a Monday and out on a Friday." Evan's mother added, "We thought that would be the worst of it."
From five months up until this past Tuesday, that was the worst of it. Evan had regular checkups, never missing an appointment. The Briggs' said he always passed with flying colors and was described as an overly-healthy and active child.
"He'd be so far down the hallways you'd have to make him stop and be like 'You have no idea where you're going,'" Stephanie Briggs said.
"He was always singing and dancing. From one side of the house to the other, you could hear him singing at all hours. Even from one side of the playroom to the other, you're hearing him jumping. The ceiling fan would be shaking," Nathan Briggs said.
If his heart condition was indeed catching back up with him, the Briggs said he didn't show it. "We got seven good years," his father said. "Almost eight," added his mother, noting Evan's birthday was just around the corner.
It's not just the Briggs who are grateful for those years, but people throughout Evan's tight-knit community around Bath. Through an outpouring of support from the school, the YMCA and the town, they are already seeing the impact of Evan's death and the commitment to help his memory live on.
"We see names that we've never heard of before," Stephanie Briggs said.
"We've got people donating to us that we've never met," Nathan Briggs added.
The Briggs' are both aware this sudden tragedy is putting life into perspective for a lot of people, as it certainly has for them.
"Take the minute to hold them, hug them, wrestle them. Say you love them because you never know." From the stories they shared, it's clear Nathan and Stephanie Briggs took the time to do those things.
"I would say it until he'd say it back before bed. 'I love you, I love you, I love you' until I got an 'I love you too' back," Stephanie Briggs said.
The Briggs are still awaiting autopsy results to determine exactly what caused Evan's cardiac arrest. In the meantime, they said they're working on planning a celebration of life to honor him.