KY teens give up chance to win car to injured classmate whose parents died in wreck

Each year, Cheap Chevrolet in Flemingsburg gives each graduating senior at Fleming County High School a chance to win a new car in a random drawing.

This year, Gavin Moran and at least seven other members among 66 in the senior class of 2020 have given their chance of winning a Chevrolet Cruz on Saturday to classmate Dalton Barnett, 18. Barnett, shortly after graduating on May 23, was a passenger in a crash that killed his parents and injured him and his brother.

People from all over the United States are sending condolences and offers of help to the graduate. Fleming County High School principal Stephanie Emmons said the gesture from the seniors in the class who are giving up their chance to win “was very kind and sweet and shows what kind of servant heart our kids have.”

Moran, 18, said on Sunday, he and some friends were trying to figure out what to do for Dalton Barnett. Moran said he just bought a car and decided that “I didn’t need” the auto that one of the Fleming County seniors will win in the raffle.

He said by Tuesday morning, eight kids in all had donated the numbered keys they received at graduation that will be entered into a drawing.. The winning key will be randomly drawn on Saturday.

Barnett’s mother, Nancy Barnett, and his father, Lyndon Barnett, both died in the accident in Fleming County .He and his brother Michael, 26 remained at the University of Kentucky hospital Tuesday. Emmons said Dalton Barnett’s recuperation was going well.

Emmons had said that Dalton Barnett’s parents were both excited to watch him walk across the stage Saturday. She said his mother, Nancy Barnett, wore a shirt to the graduation that said “Senior Mom: Some people wait their entire lives to meet their inspiration. I raised mine. Class of 2020.”

This story was originally published May 26, 2020 at 2:33 PM.