Sixteen-year-old Bethany Kacak from Cleveland, Ga., was pronounced dead shortly after 10 a.m. Thursday morning, July 13, at Erlanger Medical Center. Before she passed away she gave a gift that allowed her to bring hope and healing to many homes and lives.  Bethany was an organ donor.

Born on March 15, 1990, Bethany would have been a sophomore at Georgia-Cumberland Academy in Calhoun, Ga., this coming school year. As a freshman last year, she was a member of the gymnastics team and very active. She was also involved in spiritual outreach programs.

“Bethany was a very pleasant, well-liked young lady. Most often when people would think of Bethany they would think about a sweet, kind, and caring person,” says Greg Gerard, principal of Georgia-Cumberland Academy. “The love of God was very evident in her life. Though this is terribly painful, I have every confidence that she rests in Jesus. She will be deeply missed at GCA.”

Bethany was passionate about wakeboarding.  On a website she maintained, she wrote, “I love wakeboarding with almost all of my heart.  I am going to be a pro wakeboarder when I get older.”

On July 11, 2006, Bethany was participating in Cohutta Springs Youth Camp’s Wakeboard Teen Specialty Camp at Carter’s Lake in Georgia. At around 3:00 p.m., Bethany fell while wakeboarding. Camp staff members who saw Bethany fall say there was nothing that made the fall appear abnormal and that the boat was moving at a normal speed for wakeboarding.

However, when Bethany did not respond, a certified lifeguard on-board the boat immediately entered the water and responded with first aid.  A camp staff member called 911 from the boat, and when medics arrived at the pier and assessed Bethany, an air ambulance was called to take her to Erlanger Medical Center in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Doctors would later determine that Bethany was brain dead.  She was kept on life support until her request to be an organ donor could be honored.  Along with other friends Bethany had signed a card requesting to be an organ donor last year during a church service at the Georgia-Cumberland Academy Church.

Cohutta Springs Youth Camp Director Rob Lang says he and his staff are still in shock.

“We are devastated at the loss of Bethany,” says Lang.  “Words cannot express to the Kacak family how sorry we are for their loss.  The prayers of our entire camp staff and Bethany’s fellow campers are with the Kacak family.”

Bethany was a member of the Gainesville, Ga., Seventh-day Adventist Church where her family is an active part of the church.

Gainesville Adventist Church Pastor Maurice Witt baptized Bethany and has been with the family during this difficult time.  “Bethany would always want to be helping in any way she could,” says Witt.  “The family has felt her signing the organ donation card was very genuine and not going with the popular flow at that moment.”

Witt says the family feels that Bethany’s gift is a mirror of the gift Christ gave at Calvary, which brings life to those who accept it, but the gift comes at a high price that was paid by the giver.

Witt says the family is doing their best as they deal with the loss of Bethany.  He says Bethany’s father, Robert, had this to say, “Unless the Lord comes, all of us will have to die.  Bethany died doing what she loved most with the friends that she found most dear.”

Georgia-Cumberland Conference President Ed Wright says Bethany’s loss reminds us that in this world we are under attack and we need a refuge.  “On behalf of the Georgia-Cumberland Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, I want to extend our heartfelt condolences to the Kacak family on the loss of Bethany,” says Wright.  “At times like these, we don’t always have the answers, we simply trust the God who says, ‘I am your refuge and strength.’”

The Georgia-Cumberland Conference President encourages that during this difficult time we uplift the Kacak family, our campers, and our camp staff in prayer.

Bethany is survived by her parents, Robert and Laurie, by her sisters, Kelly and Laura, and by her brother, Micah.

A funeral service for Bethany is tentatively being planned for the afternoon of July 22.  A location has yet to be finalized.  As more details become available the will be released on this website.

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