VALPARAISO — As the anniversary of her son‘s death drew near, Kathy Haugen opened the door to his room and knew what needed to be done.
For the first two years after her son’s death she paid someone to clean his room. Kathy couldn’t even go upstairs where Taylor, or “T” as she calls him, spent most of his time. It was just too hard.
Until last week, Taylor Haugen’s wallet lay where he had set it down, his clothes still hung in his closet and his University of Florida-colored walls still held his posters.
“It was like he was telling me, ‘All right Mom, it’s been five years. It’s time,’ ” Kathy said at her home in Valparaiso. “So five years later, I finally cleaned out his room.”
See a gallery of photos from Taylor Haugen's life. >>
Kathy and her husband Brian Haugen will tell anyone who asks they still struggle with the death of their 15-year-old son. They say their dark moments still come. Their moments of hurt and anger are something they can’t help.
“It doesn’t end,” Kathy said. “You just learn to cope.”
“We’re still getting through it,” Brian added. “We get through it every day.”
In life, Taylor was known as the boy who didn’t quit. In death, the slogan “Don’t quit … Never give up” has been printed on T-shirts, bracelets, magnets and even buildings.
Taylor’s death shook the community Aug. 30, 2008, when he was hit during a preseason football game while he was playing for Niceville High’s junior varsity team.
The impact ruptured his liver.
“He had gone in for a couple of plays, but they weren’t very far into the game,” Kathy recalled. “T was open so they threw to him.”
He tried to get back in the huddle, but after appearing to lose his footing he was called off the field.
Taylor stumbled onto the sideline, where he lost color in his face. He had lost consciousness by the time he was in the ambulance and never woke up.
“I can’t tell you how many surgeries he had or how much blood he lost,” Kathy said. “I would have loved to crawl in my bed or in a hole after that and stay there.”
“We did do that, at least for a little while,” Brian added.
The couple still struggles with living their lives without their only child. They knew early on that Taylor would have wanted more for them.
“That’s where our faith walk came in,” Brian said. “We did the hide-under-the covers-and-avoid-the-situation thing, but we feel we have this calling now. We’ve been asked to do something from a higher authority.
“It’s become our purpose-driven life.”
Today, the Haugens are equipping teams across the country with gear specifically meant to protect a player’s abdominal region.
“I couldn’t allow the death of my only child to stop me from helping others,” Kathy said. “This week, we’d just as soon shut the doors and not talk to anyone, but we have a new purpose.
“This is our son’s legacy.”
Contact Daily News Staff Writer Angel McCurdy at 850-315-4432 or amccurdy@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @AngelMnwfdn.