Personality-wise, 13-year-old Ayden Michael Hawks and 11-year-old Keeton Leo Hawks couldn’t have been more different—but together, they were a force to be reckoned with.
“They were incredible individually, as they both had their strengths— but as brothers, they were made for each other,” said their mother, Christy Craig. “They were brothers of light and hope and love. As opposite as they were, what one was weak in, the other was strong. They knew what kind of team they were together. They were their brother’s keeper, and they knew how important it was to be siblings. They understood that God had given them to each other for a reason. They just did life together.”
At only 13-years-old, Ayden was already an international missionary—having been to Kenya twice on mission trips. His brother, Keeton, planned to follow in his big brother’s footsteps once he turned 12. While Keeton never got to travel internationally, his family says he ministered to people exactly where he was.
“He ministered on the basketball court, on the playground,” said Christy. “The county recreation league honored him by retiring his jersey number, and no more players will wear it. He was #1. Keeton’s friends always say that when they had a bad day, he always made it better.”
In July 2023, on the way home from visiting their father’s family, both brothers were fatally injured in a tragic car accident. Despite their unimaginable pain and grief, the family made the selfless decision to say ‘yes’ to tissue donation.
“It’s not a decision you think you’re going to ever have to make,” said Christy. “They were no longer here, but the thought of them going through an operation just broke my heart. As I was praying, I asked for confirmation on what to do. I know what organ and tissue donation does, I have friends who are recipients. When I got the phone call telling me that both Keeton and Ayden were eligible to donate corneas and heart valves, that was the confirmation I needed. This was what I needed to do to give somebody else hope, because that’s what my boys did. This was a way I could help some other mama whose child needed sight, or a heart healed. It helps to know that there’s a mom whose child now has a chance that they might not have had with a weakened heart. Or an opportunity to see. This gives me hope, because I know that there’s a family out there, or multiple families, who got a phone call in my darkest time, and it became their best.”
Their funeral, or “homecoming,” as their grandfather calls it, was attended by 500 people—with over 3000 people streaming it from around the world.
“There are adults who’ve lived full lives who haven’t impacted people in the way that these two boys did,” said Christy. “We have started Ayden and Keeton’s Hope, and our goal is to give hope and continue their legacy.”
In honor of his grandsons, their grandfather, Michael Blowe, is traveling back to Kenya this year to break ground for the first of two children’s homes.
“They’re being built in their honor,” said Michael. “We’re going to hopefully do a school in 2026. Schools and children’s homes are what Ayden had planned. He ministered in both places with kids who had nothing. We’re working on creating a legacy, and this is just part of that legacy.”
Today, the family finds comfort in happy memories of both boys—from Keeton singing and dancing everywhere he went, to Ayden’s quiet and thoughtful nature.
“Ayden was the perfect big brother,” said Christy. “He knew how to wrangle Keeton better than anybody. Keeton knew exactly how to cheer his brother on—they were the best part of each other. Ayden was quiet and analyzed everything before making a decision, and Keeton was loud and happy and impulsive. Complete opposites. Ayden was shy, but for Keeton, strangers were friends he hadn’t yet claimed. From the time he was a baby, I described him as the sprinkles in my Funfetti cake. He chose joy every day. Both boys did. They set out every day to make a difference.”
Like Ayden and Keeton, you too can make a difference! Consider registering your decision to be an organ, eye, and tissue donor—a single donor can save and heal up to 75 lives.
