Hundreds of people donning green gathered at the Wellington High School football field on Thursday night to celebrate the life of Denali Smith , a former Wolverines football and lacrosse player who died Tuesday morning after collapsing during Monday practice.
Smith, who would have turned 21 on Thursday, was the subject of fond memories and stories from former coaches, friends and family.
"I met him for the first time, and you could just see his smile light up the room," said Wellington lacrosse coach Johnny Hernandez, who Smith played for in high school. "He comes up to me, introduces himself as this little 12-year-old kid, and I just thought, 'Oh my God, this is going to be great.'"
And it was.
Smith's 20 years of life, love, heart and hope weret too much to fit in a single memorial according to Hernandez's assistant coach Scot Haynes.
"I don't know how many hours you have to talk about him," Haynes said. "He couldn't fit in a movie. You might be able to fit him in several seasons of a television series or a really, really big book."
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"He was the most natural leader I've ever seen," Haynes continued. "He had this hard-wired sense of what the right thing was to do -- and the difference was, he had the courage to do it. And more often than not, he would do it in such a way that he'd invite other people to do it with him, and they'd go along."
One of the stories that was perhaps most impactful from Thursday's vigil came from someone who met him in his final hours.
It was a paramedic that treated Smith and came to speak at the vigil alongside a police officer.
"What struck me most was how his passing impacted them, and they only met him when he was at his worst time, when he was on his way out," Haynes said. "He was fighting for his life, and the comment that the paramedic made was that she was struck by how kind he was to everybody, even as he was fighting to try to stay alive."
Haynes offered a small, emotional laugh before saying, "the funny thing is, not one person was surprised by that. It's just who he was."
Smith's life was one of transformation in many ways.
In transitioning from a high school lineman packing extra weight needed for his position to a carved college running back on scholarship, Smith put forth his own example of setting a goal and meeting it.
But while he spent much of his time in the gym transforming his own body, he spent the rest of it transforming the lives he impacted around him, even if he didn't know it.
His best friends, Jackson Haynes, Hunter Haynes, and Refugio Perez, were all touched by Smith's heart in the time they spent together.
For Perez, especially, there was very little time he was not with Smith, whom he befriended in middle school and formed a lasting, impenetrable bond.
Both of their families "adopted" the other and treated Perez and Smith as their own sons.
"He was really loving and caring," Perez said. "He's a kid that would give the shirt off his back if you needed it. He would, and he did it for me multiple times for me."
On the field, Perez would go on to become one of the best lacrosse players in the state, but that evolution as a player started with Smith introducing his friend to the sport, setting goals for Perez and helping him reach them at a young age.
"He gave me my first lacrosse stick," Perez said. "We used to sit there and he'd be like, 'Let's catch the ball eight times, and tomorrow we're go up a number.' And eight ended up turning into 100. And 100 ended up turning into us standing across the street going, 'Hey, remember when we wanted to catch the ball eight times, and now you're sitting here all over the news, number one in state state right now.'"
"That was all because of him," Perez said. "That was all because of him. He believed in me when nobody did. He stood beside me through everything. He didn't miss anything I did. He didn't miss a birthday. He looked up to me, and I didn't even know it. He always motivated me, but the whole time, I realized we were just motivating each other."
Perez shared dozens of stories about their friendship, from Smith's knack for making a delicious egg sandwich to his blogging camera for his YouTube channel, to the times they shared at coach Haynes' house talking about their goals in life.
The most important message in those moments was the love that the two of them shared.
"Peace and love, Brother," Perez said in a moment meant for his friend.
Gone too soon, but never to be forgotten.
"It can't just be a tragedy," Haynes said. "It can't be about pain, about loss. I think with things like this, it's about life. It's about love. It's about legacy. And maybe the pain associated with him just serves to underscore the importance of his life and to make sure we remember the things we're supposed to remember."
Smith's family has set up a GoFundMe to aid with funeral expenses.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: 'Peace and love': Wellington coaches, friends honor the life and legacy of Denali Smith
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