A Prayer Request from the Family of Andrew “Kent” Moore (’14)

Andrew “Kent” Moore (’14) was a Thomas Aquinas College student killed by a passing vehicle last summer while participating in the Crossroads Walk for Life Across America. The anniversary of Kent’s death took place last week, during which his family attended a memorial Mass near the site of his death in Indiana.

While there, the Moores also had the chance to meet Bryan — the man who, through no fault of his own, struck Kent with his car. According to Joseph Moore, Kent’s father, Bryan has suffered deeply, with little support, this past year. Below is a prayer request that Mr. Moore posted to Mark Shea’s blog, Catholic and Enjoying It:

My wife Anne-Martine wrote [Bryan] a letter asking if he’d want to meet while we were out. He called us Saturday, in tears, saying yes, and so Anne-Martine our teenage daughters and I went out to meet him and his mother at the spot on the rural Indiana highway where Andrew had died.

This poor man, while certainly in ours and others prayers, did not have the hundreds of people we had reaching out to help him, and so lived with his grief for a whole year without really any chance to talk it through. His family supported him, but mostly he felt alone, and could not even talk about the accident. Bryan is only a few years older than Andrew.
So, for over an hour, he and his mother and Anne-Martine and I and Andrew’s 2 sisters talked, while the cars buzzed by and a little light rain fell off and on. Just standing there, looking at the spot, it’s clear that this was just a tragic accident, two walkers in the median where they had no business being, pitch black, no shoulder, no reason for a driver to even suspect anyone would be there. So, we assured Bryan and his mom many time that it was not his fault, he didn’t do anything wrong, and that we don’t blame or hate him.

Unfortunately, the tragedy didn’t end with Andrew’s death. Bryan’s car struck and got wedged atop a railing on the right shoulder. The impact had showered Bryan with glass and blood, and he had to crawl out of his wrecked car. The other walker, who had miraculously not been hit, was completely in shock. The first driver to come along after the accident fled without even allowing Bryan to call 911. This poor young man had to try to deal with the situation, himself injured, until a driver who would help came up a few minutes later. It was a horrible scene. Then the ambulance came and took him away.
Bryan is the father of 3 young children, including a daughter who was less than 1 week old at the time. I’m in no position to even really know what’s going on, but his marriage started to fall apart right after this accident – I can’t help but think the stress of this accident had to have a part in it.

So, please pray for Bryan, his mother, his children and his wife. The rest of us, it seems. were showered with God’s blessings, mercy and comfort after this tragedy, but somehow Bryan seems to have had to continue to suffer. Pray that he be comforted, that he experience God’s love, and that his family life be healed.

Please join us in praying for Bryan, his family, and their consolation.

Posted: July 26, 2013