REFEREE AWARD HONORS AUSTIN SILVA

Soccer-loving teen remembered for his positivity on the field

By EMILY CHARRIER

Those who knew Austin Silva tend to describe him with the same word: Polite. The teen’s kindness and professionalism made him a favorite referee at the Lake Highlands Soccer Association during the four years he worked there.

“He was one of the young men you wish were your own kid because he was always so polite,” says John Gossett, who has been a part of the LHSA since his eldest daughter, now 30, was a young player. “He was just a really good kid. So good with the younger players.”

Silva also was an accomplished tennis player at Lake Highlands High School and had solid dance moves as a member of the Wildcat Wranglers.

Last summer, he went in for a routine surgery to remove his wisdom teeth. But he didn’t wake up.

For nine days, his school and church rallied around the family, hoping he would recover. When it became clear the cardiac arrest was too severe, his parents, David and Suzanne Silva, made plans to donate his organs and save the lives of others.

“The nature of Austin’s brain injury has ended up being so severe that recovery is simply not possible, and we expect him to pass away imminently. While we have been ready for a miracle, God’s plan has seemed to direct us elsewhere. No one should ever have to write these words, and they are even harder to accept, but that is where we are,” they wrote in a statement at the time.

The soccer association looked for a