Jeff sustained 95 percent of his body burned, some of it with fourth- and fifth-degree burns, lesser known than third-degree burns and that sometimes all the way to the bone. Survival of these advanced burns requires major grafts and amputation. Jeff’s left arm was amputated. Tirteen days later he died. “Te 13 days were a miracle from God, it couldn’t have been anything else,” says Gerald, owner and driver of “Te Little Red Car” that has set speed says, sitting in the garage break-room area of his “World’s Largest Crosley Dealership” at 500 Brown St. in Paducah. Gerald tells what it was like during the last few hours of Jeff’s life. “Te night before Jeff’s operation, I had been in the room about 10 hours on that day, Jeff asked, ‘What time is it?’ I told him it was 7 o’clock. He asked ‘AM or PM?’ I told him it was 7 p.m. He said, ‘Just 13 more hours.’ His operation was scheduled for 8 a.m. the next day. “I told him not to worry about it, it would be fine, don’t forget you are better on the computer with one hand than we are with two. He looked me straight in the eye and said, ‘I sure would like to be with Grand Dad.’ My dad, whom Jeff was very close to, passed two months before. I said we have raised you from birth for such a day as when God would call you home, but you’ve got to think of me, your Mom, and your Grandmother, we need you so much and wouldn’t want to live without you. “He smiled, and said ‘OK, Dad, I will try to hold on a little longer, but 8 o’clock would be OK with me.’ After the operation the next day, I stayed with him all day until 8 that night, and God called him home, his last words were ‘I love you.’ A few days later a nurse wrote us a three-page letter saying Jeff had prayed with her and led her to accept Jesus Christ as her personal Savior.” Te dealership garage, with shells of Crosley cars and a truck and that lies to the rear of the showroom floor, is the home to Gerald’s little red racing 1951 Crosley SS. Te little red racer carries the number “1010,” Romans 10:10 that is, and is the car of “Te Witness” racing team with Gerald behind the wheel. Gerald proudly admits, he had nothing to do with the build of the car. He had the vision, and four great friends did the build. Gerald now works on the car and does the tuning, but is the first to say, he had no part in the very special build of this car. As the driver, Gerald, has taken the racer to a high speed of 121.261 mph on Sept. 27 in Wilmington, Ohio. Gerald also set speed INTHEVUE.COM Gerald Davenport stands beside his Romans 1010 racer while holding a speed record document from the East Coast Timing Association. ECTA cer- tified that Davenport and the car hit 121.26 mph on Sept. 27 at Wilming- ton, Ohio. It is the fastest speed the “Little Red Car” has reached. PROMOTING EVENTS THAT MAKE A DIFFERENCE JANUARY 2015 47 Te Romans 1010 racer on display in the Crosley of Kentucky garage on Brown Street. Te racer holds or has held speed records in its class in Max- ton, N.C., Wilmington, Ohio and the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. Gerald and Emma Davenport stand with their son, Jeff (middle) in what Gerald says is the last snapshot of the family together. Te undeveloped roll of film was found among Jeff’s things years after his death in 1990.
