Keenan

16-year-old Keenan Matthes became a #OneEarOut Angel on April 20th, 2017 in West Auckland, New Zealand. He was running and wearing headphones when he was killed by a train while crossing the tracks.

His mother writes: “Keenan loved Rugby, lived & breathed it since he first started playing at 11yrs old. He always set goals for himself and was a very determined hardworking person, ticking off each goal. He was out running that morning because one of his goals was to be a much fitter and stronger rugby player, even tho he had rugby training at 10am that day he still got up at 6am to go for his run. He loved listening to music, would always tell me “mum, music helps me stay motivated and helps me do my work faster”, he played it loud and always had his earphones in his ears, it made him smile and he would dance to his music when he thought no one was watching. Our beautiful son was such a humble, kind, loving boy, we had so many people thru our door from all walks of life that said the same thing, Keenan made a huge impact on their lives, he had such a big heart with a massive smile and always gave his time to others. His School Principal cried on our shoulder because Keenan made such a difference in his life and he said he would get Keenan to lead and advise students at school because he knew how to reach them. Our boy was only 16yrs old (just turned 16 on January 19th), 6ft 3, a heart of gold and everyone called him the gentle giant. Our only son, our first born our big baby, our eldest of 3 kids and we miss him so much…”