LANSING, Mich — Geronimo Lerma is grieving the loss of his best friend, Nick Shauver, who died Monday at 41 years old.
Shauver suffered a hematoma, bleeding in the brain, and a possible stroke.
"He ended up hematoma, bleeding in the brain, and a possible stroke, it was too late for them to do any surgeries," Lerma said.
Shauver served as vice president of Footprints of Michigan, a nonprofit he and Lerma built together over the course of nearly 12 years.
"Footprints of Michigan we're a non profit organization, going on 12 years providing footwear to those in need in Michigan," Lerma said.
The organization gives away about 20,000 pairs of shoes each year. Lerma says Shauver contributed in every way he could.
"He contributed any way he could. Like I said we do our annual golf outing he would go buy 300 or 400 dollar golf clubs and donate them so we could make money by raffling them off," Lerma said.
This year's annual golf outing on Aug. 16 will be held in Shauver's honor. Lerma says next year's event will be dedicated entirely to him, with proceeds going toward a cause close to Shauver's heart.
"The golf outing on august 16th will be our annual golf outing and it will be in his honor and next year we plan to do a golf outing just for him and the proceeds for that will not go toward foot prints but what he loved which was youth sports," Lerma said.
Shauver also made a final impact as an organ donor, donating his kidneys and liver after his death.
"His last gift was the gift of life… he gave up his organs, he gave up his kidneys and liver to someone that needed it so they could live on longer is the ultimate gift," Lerma said.
As Footprints of Michigan works to carry on Shauver's legacy, Lerma says one thing is certain.
"He will definitely be missed," Lerma said.
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