On December 17, 2009, 26 year old NFL wide receiver Chris Henry died following an accident during a domestic dispute with his fiance. Though his passing was an incredible tragedy, out of the former West Virginia Mountaineer star’s death came life for four people who received his organs via transplant surgery.
Chris Henry grew up in Belle Chasse, Louisiana, and was a star athlete at the local high school. A three sport letterman at Belle Chasse High School, Henry attended West Virginia University on a full athletic scholarship and quickly established himself as one of the premiere wide receivers in the country, winning Big East Conference Freshman of the year.
His career at WVU was star-crossed however, as Henry excelled on the field but struggled with behavioral and personal problems. These problems ultimately caused for Henry to fall to the third round of the NFL Draft in 2005, where he was chosen by the Cincinnati Bengals.
Henry’s tenure in Cincinnati was marked by success on the field, but troubles off of the field; it seemed as if his demons had followed Henry from rural Morgantown, West Virginia, to big city Cincinnati, Ohio. Repeated arrests on various charges from drunk driving to weapons charges landed Henry multiple suspensions from the NFL, and led to a judge calling him “a one man crime wave.”
In April 2008, following Henry’s fifth arrest since entering the National Football League, the Cincinnati Bengals decided to release the wide receiver, with Bengals president Mike Brown releasing a statement saying “his conduct can no longer be tolerated.” It seemed as if all people associated with the team, from President to coach to even teammates, were sick of the distractions that Henry was bringing with his legal troubles.
Teammates Rudi Johnson and T.J. Houshmandzadeh had particularly scathing words: “He would say he was determined to turn his life around, but he was telling me one thing and doing another.” Fellow wide receiver Houshmandzadeh stated “I’m sure he is upset…but how upset can you be if you continually put yourself in situations like that?”
Repeated inquiries by media to head coach Marvin Lewis regarding Henry’s future with the team were met with a simple answer: the Bengals could not see a situation where bringing Chris Henry back to the team was worth the headache.
The troubled wide receiver seemed to be woken up by the actions taken by the team when they released him, and focused on fixing himself and his family. His change was not unnoticed.
In August of 2008, just a few months after being cut by the Bengals, Henry was given another chance by the team that drafted him. Team president Mike Brown, who had stayed in contact with the wide receiver even after he was released earlier in the year, decided that Henry deserved at least one more chance and resigned the player to the team.
Several players on the Bengals were apprehensive that Henry had turned his life around, and worried that bringing him back would only be a cause for discord amongst the team. However, Henry proved any naysayers wrong, and not only was on his best behavior, but also found himself having one of the best starts to a season of his career. Head coach Marvin Lewis stated “there was a different man that was sitting across from me and a different person.”
As much as things had turned out for the good with Henry, an injury quickly took the season from the young player; in November he sustained a broken forearm during a game with the Baltimore Ravens, ending his season just a few weeks in. Though Henry could have easily taken the injury as an excuse to begin to backslide into trouble, he instead kept his nose clean and focused on his family. He left the team to live in North Carolina with his fiancé and their three children.
On December 16, 2009, Henry and fiance Loleini Tonga got into an argument in their Charlotte, North Carolina-area home. Tonga decided to leave the house and jumped into her pickup truck; Henry, trying to stop her from leaving, hopped into the bed of the truck and was reported by witnesses as “beating on the window,” and yelling for her to stop as she pulled away from their home. Henry fell from the bed of the truck and sustained a severe head injury, which took his life at 6:36AM EST the following day.
The news of Henry’s demise quickly spread throughout the sports world, and devastated the Bengals. Said team president Mike Brown, “he had worked through troubles in his life and had finally seemingly reached the point where everything was going to blossom and he was going to have the future that we all wanted for him and he wanted for himself, and then this tragedy cut him down. It’s painful for us. We feel it in our hearts. We will miss him.”
Head coach Marvin Lewis stated, “it’s a very difficult thing with his loss, and a young life that won’t ever get to reach his full potential.”
At Henry’s funeral, teammates both from his days at Belle Chasse as well as his time in Cincinnati stood up to speak about the young man. Said high school teammate Shane Shelley, “The Chris Henry I knew was a good quiet young man, wasn’t a troublemaker. That’s what everybody needs to know. He was a good man, a good father.”
Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer added, “We’ve all seen and experienced different sides of Chris, and with every side he showed us, we saw just how kind and gentle his heart was.”
The outpouring of support and condolences from people throughout the country was surprising to those who had only known of Henry through his rap sheet, and bad reputation. But it was clear from the way that those who had a personal relationship with Henry reacted to his death that the player was more than what people assumed that he was.
Tom Elliott, Donna Arnold, James Benton, Brian Polk. These are the four people that received organs from Chris Henry when his mother, Carolyn Glaspy, made the decision to donate his organs. For Elliott, two new lungs. For Arnold, a new pancreas and a new kidney. For Benton, a new liver. For Polk, a kidney. All four transplant recipients were given less than a year to live, and for them the passing of Chris Henry meant life.
“I was given six months to live,” Benton said.
Glaspy decided to donate Henry’s organs after speaking with his fiancé and friends, who told her that he would have wanted to be a donor.
The recipients and their families are forever indebted to Chris Henry and his family, and realize the gravity of the second chance that they have received.”I think about Chris Henry everyday,” Elliot stated.
“My time here now is more of a…gift,” Polk said regarding his life after receiving his transplant.
CBS recently aired a special on the lives that Henry’s passing affected this last Thanksgiving, and LifeShare of The Carolinas reported that close to 80 people were inspired by Henry’s story and signed up to be organ donors in the Charlotte area.
Though the life of Chris Henry was cut far too short, he will be forever remembered though his family, friends, teammates and those people whose life the wide receiver ultimately saved through the donation of his organs, and through them will continue to live on.
To sign up to be an organ donor, please visit www.organdonor.gov
All of us here at Positively Celebrity would like to say that we are inspired by the story of Chris Henry, a young man who’s life was taken far too soon, and who had righted the ship and turned things around for the better. We wish both the Henry and Tonga families nothing but the best, and hope that all of those who learn about Chris Henry are inspired to change themselves for the better as well.
Be sure to check back for more great inspirational stories from Richard Munassi right here at Positively Celebrity.
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