A selfless New Jersey principal died trying to help save the life of a 14-year-old boy he never met, his family said on Tuesday.
Derrick Nelson, the 44-year-old principal of Westfield High School fell into a coma in February after a procedure to donate bone marrow to a sick teenager in France.
“After the procedure he did, he couldn’t speak and was lying in the bed,” his father, 81-year-old Willie Nelson told the NJ Advance Media Tuesday. “His eyes were open and he realized who we were. But he couldn’t move. He never spoke again.”
The family of the 20-year officer with the US Army Reserve, including his parents, fiancee and the couple’s 6-year-old daughter, kept a vigil for him in his room at University Hospital until his death on Sunday.
“We really don’t know the full story of what happened,” Willie Nelson said. “We were expecting him to come out of the coma he was in. But he didn’t make it.”
Because Nelson suffered from apnea, doctors were concerned about using anesthesia for the procedure. They ultimately decided to use a local anesthetic, Nelson said in an interview with the high school newspaper, Hi’s Eye, prior to the procedure.
“If it’s just a little bit of pain for a little bit of time that can give someone years of joy, it’s all worth it,” he said at the time.
On Monday, school officials and Mayor Shelley Brindle paid tribute to Nelson.
“This is a tremendous loss for our community, and I know that our children, and we as parents, will struggle with coming to terms with this over the coming days and weeks,” Brindle said on Facebook. “He was a man of immense character and kindness, and his legacy will live on in the generations of students whose lives he touched.”
Nelson’s family said he had recently reenlisted in the Army. His previous military service included assignments in the Middle East.
The funeral will be held later this week at St. John’s Baptist Church in Scotch Plains.