HOPKINSVILLE, KY (CHRISTIAN COUNTY NOW) – A Clarksville woman is exhausting every resource she can attempting to locate her son’s football jerseys that were supposed to be turned into a sentimental graduation blanket. The jerseys were accidentally donated to Goodwill on Fort Campbell Boulevard in Hopkinsville, with no leads on who may have purchased them.
Karen Sutton told Christian County Now she has three homeschooled sons that play in Mount Juliet for the Tennessee Heat. Her son Hayden had a great year playing football and was asked to play on the Gatlinburg All-American team even though he had faced an injury during playoff practice for his final season.
“We were surprised and excited when the officials for the All-American game in Gatlinburg still asked him to come as an honorary teammate based on his season and his positive attitude,” said Sutton.
To celebrate her son’s accomplishments and commemorate his senior year, she wanted to have his past jerseys made into a blanket. But they were disappointed to learn that the person who was sewing it had accidentally donated the bag containing his jerseys to Goodwill in Hopkinsville. She attempted to search for them in the store, but it had been three days since they were donated.
“She spent hours looking through the racks, talking to the staff, and crying, trying to find his items,” said Sutton. “She did an amazing job on our older son’s quilt and has made hundreds of these without having this happen. She is a relative and loves Hayden dearly, so this was entirely accidental.”
When they heard the news, their family dropped everything and combed through the racks themselves. They were able to locate a few of his other clothing items that were in the bag, but no jerseys. Sutton was told that the store would update them if anything popped up, but they are assuming the items were sold.
“Anything we can do to try to track them down would be amazing,” continued Sutton. She put out an all-call on Facebook, seeing if anyone who may have purchased them last month would be willing to sell them back. Although her son is disappointed, she says he has a positive attitude about the situation, and they do not hold it against the person who donated them.
They are looking for three jerseys with the number 75 that are double extra-large or triple extra-large. Two of them are from the Tennessee Heat and say “HEAT” on the back. One jersey is red and black, and the other is white and maroon with signatures from his teammates on them. Anyone with information can contact her on Facebook.
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