Vanderbilt's Donny Everett remembered by Chandler Day two years after witnessing his death

CLEMSON, S.C. — It took two years for Chandler Day to open up about witnessing teammate Donny Everett’s death. He finally did it in his own words.

Heading into Saturday’s two-year anniversary of Everett’s death on June 2, 2016, Day penned his own account of that day for The Athlete’s Guide, a website that provides a platform for athletes to give guidance to other athletes in the same age group.

Day, now a junior pitcher for Vanderbilt, chose to share his story there earlier this week after remaining mostly silent the past two years about the death of Everett, a former Clarksville High baseball star and Vanderbilt pitcher.

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One year ago, former Vanderbilt teammate Ryan Johnson, who was also present at Everett’s drowning, told The Tennessean his story after leaving the team while grappling with “depression and anxiety.”

Day echoed Johnson’s struggles to balance grief and hope.

“I share this story not only to heal the wounds I endured during this time,” Day wrote for The Athlete’s Guide, “but to share the impact that one individual had on the lives of so many others.”

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Chandler Day tried to save Donny Everett

On June 2, 2016, Everett, Day, Johnson and two friends fished at Lake Normandy in Coffee County the day before Vanderbilt hosted an NCAA Regional. 

At one point, they decided to cross to the other side of the lake. Four of the young men walked across the bridge, while Everett tried to swim across. He struggled to stay afloat and called for help, but the others thought he was joking around.

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According to the police report, one of the men jumped into the water to try to save him, but the name of that man was never given. Day now says that was him:

“As Donny yelled for help again, I knew this time he wasn’t joking. Taking my phone and wallet from my pocket, I swam out to him and started to push him to the rocks we were standing on. I was confused when he didn’t seem to be struggling and Ryan called out that he saw him smiling. Man, I was pissed. I was going to have to ride home dripping wet because Donny had played another one of his jokes. Swimming back to shore, I turned to yell something at Donny, but I didn’t see him. He had gone under.”

Everett’s body was found later that night about 15 feet off the shore line in water about 25 feet deep.

“Staring at the water, I still remember thinking this wasn’t real,” Day wrote. “How could he have been lost that quickly? Even hours later, sitting in the police station to write our reports, I couldn’t understand why this happened or why we were there to witness it helplessly on the shore.”

Seeing God in tragedy

Spiritual symbols of comfort are apparent for Day and Johnson in their accounts of that day.

Johnson said he was struck by the sight of a rainbow during the drive from Lake Normandy to the Coffee County Sheriff’s Department.

“Chandler and I looked at (the rainbow) and looked at each other. We had chills. We both said the same thing — ‘That’s Donny,’” said Johnson, who later saw another rainbow after Everett’s funeral.

In Day’s account, he told about an elderly man with “long white hair and a beard” who spoke to them at Lake Normandy on the day of Everett’s death. The man told them about his favorite nearby fishing hole, so they went there in hopes of catching their first fish of the day.

The young men caught nothing, but the elderly man reappeared and easily caught some fish.

Day wrote, “I remember looking at Ryan after that happened saying, ‘How the hell did he catch a fish in five minutes when we have been down here for an hour?’ (Johnson) simply replied with, ‘I have no idea, he must be God.’”

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Day wrote that he believed that elderly man was God, looking over Everett in his final moments.

“The evidence was right in front of me. Think about it. First off the elderly gentleman we met never gave us his name, he then told us about the spot up the road where the incident would take place,” Day wrote. “The way he walked down the steep slope with ease while all of us younger guys had to crawl on our butts. This isn’t a coincidence to me.”

Live life like Donny

Grief guides different people to different paths. Johnson, who graduated in May 2017, found some solace in his hometown of Cedar Park, Texas, about 850 miles from Vanderbilt.

Day remained with the team, returned to the mound and tried to pitch his way through some tough times.

Last season, after falling one out shy of a no-hitter in a win over Lipscomb, Day was asked vaguely about bouncing back after a tough year. He obviously recognized the implied topic of Everett’s death, but shied away from discussing it.

There’s no easy way to talk about such a tragedy in the backdrop of a baseball game, even two years later.

On Friday, Day pitched the ninth inning of Vanderbilt’s 2-0 win over St. John’s to open the Clemson Regional of the NCAA tournament. He gave up a single, a ground ball for a double play and then a strikeout to finish off the win and earn his third save this season.
Day will be eligible for next week’s MLB Draft, but he also holds a role as both a reliever and possible starter in Vanderbilt’s current postseason run.

During much of the remaining Clemson Regional, Day will be able to relax in the dugout and cheer on his teammates, knowing his initial job was done in the opening win.

“Every day, I try to live my life a little bit more like Donny,” Day wrote. “… As long as you get to attack another day, it’s your job to have a positive influence on those that surround you, on and off the field.”

Reach Adam Sparks at asparks@tennessean.com and on Twitter @AdamSparks.

CLEMSON REGIONAL

VANDERBILT (32-25) VS. CLEMSON (46-14)

When: 6 p.m. Saturday

TV/Radio: SEC Network/560 AM, 95.9 FM