'It's like Brady keeps on living': Memorial building for young athlete gaining new life

PROVO — Over 20 years ago, Kib and Lisa Jensen watched as the community rallied around their family, following the sudden loss of their 13-year-old son Brady Jensen, who died after a two-week battle with encephalitis.

Today, that support continues, as members of the community are working to refurbish and repurpose a memorial building in Sertoma Park that was created to support young athletes like Brady.

"Brady loved sports," Lisa Jensen said. "He played a soccer game the day before he got sick, and he played the entire 90 minutes. He ran a race the night before, and it was his first time not winning it, and he took third."

Lisa Jensen said that her son had been complaining about headaches but was told by doctors that it was likely due to "his little body overdoing it" in sports. Brady scaled down a bit, focusing more on soccer and running.

Despite a reduction in physical activity, his headaches continued.

"We took him to the emergency room and were told that he had a sinus infection," she said. "The next day it got worse, and his vision started getting blurry."

This all happened in October of 2005, and one more desperate trip to the emergency room determined that Brady had encephalitis, which then turned into meningitis. He was flown to Primary Children's Hospital, where he spent the next 13 days.

"When Brady got sick, it was very public," Lisa Jensen said. "Everybody knew about it. The football team had 'Pray for Brady' on their helmets. The lacrosse team had 'Pray for Brady' on their arms. It was very public because it wasn't common to have a child get sick in this way."

Brady died away on Oct. 26, 2005, just a week before what would have been his 14th birthday. His mom says the blessing that came from his passing was the way the community pulled together.

"All these kids had been praying for him and needed to see that even though their prayers hadn't been answered, the community coming together was still a blessing," she said. "The way the community pulled together in kindness and love, you don't see very often."

Almost immediately after Brady passed, several young men dedicated their Eagle Scout project to building a shack in Sertoma Park in Provo that would serve as storage for soccer equipment as well as a concessions stand. It was completed in 2007 and was named Brady Shack, and over the years, sales from concessions have raised money for scholarships for young athletes.

Brady Shack has also seen its share of wear and tear, over the years, and many individuals, school groups and organizations have volunteered to maintain it.

"The shack has kind of died out," Lisa Jensen said. "People are using it, but then you turn over coaches, and it kind of quit getting the love that it needs."

This past spring, however, local running club coach John Hedengren had a vision to bring it back to life.

John Hedengren is the father of BYU freshman All-American track athlete Jane Hedengren. He also coaches Angelina Alder, who recently broke a world record in the middle school mile. His goal is to turn the shack into a place where he can hold sports performance assessments for his athletes and store recovery and training equipment for runners in his Roadrunner Track Club. The refurbishing has been provided with the support of Provo School District, Intermountain Health, BYU and the community.

The Jensens said that the repurposing of the shack came at an interesting time for their family, because they had recently started a foundation in Brady's name to provide college scholarships.

"It's just so interesting because this year in January, we started advertising and the scholarships were happening and John called us in March or April about refurbishing the shack," Lisa Jensen said. "This year, we were able to give out eight scholarships to kids in the valley to high school seniors from Timpview and Orem high schools."

Having their son remembered all these years later, and finding ways to give back to the community, is something that the Jensens say Brady would have loved.

"It's been a tender mercy," Lisa Jensen said. "Brady had a large personality. He was very charismatic. He loved everything and had very high energy.

"The Brady Shack is now serving the community with the running program and helping athletic performance. It's like Brady keeps on living on because it keeps getting a refresh."

An opening ceremony for the Brady Shack will take place June 25 at 11 a.m.

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