Carson King

Cars are a big part of East Tennessee once in a while we have an opportunity to be a part of something special in our local community. We had the honor of making the memorial for this young man. this is what WBIR said.

Our local community had an incredible show of support in Maryville, on Sunday for a sick teenager.

Carson King is 17-years-old and was born with cerebral palsy, and recently, doctors diagnosed him with respiratory failure. His family just put him into hospice care.

Sunday, hundreds of people came together to put on a personal car show for Carson. He loves the loud noises the car engines make, so this was a really special day for him.

The original plan was for a group of cars to drive by his home, but the support grew too big for that, so Carson instead got a special set up in the Foothills Mall parking lot.

“He was throwing his arms up, I think he really liked that, he liked the sounds, so he was happy about it,” said Carson’s mom Misty Chadwick.

It’ll be a lasting memory for the 17-year-old and his loved ones. His family doesn’t know how much time he has left.

“Recently the doctors just said there’s really nothing left for them to do, and we decided to put him in hospice care, so he’s been there for about 3 or 4 days now,” Chadwick said.

The idea for a personal car show materialized in just a number of hours. The organizer reached out for loud cars online and the message spread quickly.

“I had made a post on Knoxville Car Enthusiast and it has snowballed from there into the wonderful sight you see now,” said Marcus Potter.

Potter doesn’t even know Carson, and neither do many of the drivers or people that came to watch. But for him, the mission is an important one.

“Invest in memories, because they’re all we get to take with us,” said Potter.

For that, Carson’s family is overwhelmed with gratitude and in disbelief of just how far this community went to make Carson’s day.

“It’s just crazy, that’s all I can say. I can’t thank people enough for what they’ve done. It’s just something we’ll always be appreciative of, and I know Carson will never forget,” his mom said.

We at Tennessee Memorials were thankful to be part of something that our entire community of Maryville, Knoxville, and Oak Ridge were involved in.