Fallen boy’s father says thank you to community

The father of a 10-yearold Lorain boy who died in July said that seeing the community’s support for his son and their family has touched him.

Gary M. Shaniuk, 66, of Cleveland, said losing his son, Za’Nobio Shaniuk, was the hardest thing he has dealt with in his life.

“In all my years nothing, as devastating as this has happened to me,” Shaniuk said.

Za’Nobio died July 20 of a severe asthma attack after playing in a baseball game.

Shaniuk said Za’Nobio was the “light of (his) life.”

“He was an exact replica of me,” the elder Shaniuk said. “My hands, my feet, my face and he’s the first born child I had; I just adored the ground he walked on.”

Shaniuk said his son’s final baseball game was the game of his life.

“He was so happy,” the father said.

He loved baseball

Za’Nobio was a pitcher and had been in love with playing catch with his father.

But during his last game, the youngster started out in center field.

Shaniuk said the spectators kept calling out to the coach to put him on the mound after the team slipped behind by 11 runs.

The coach finally relented and Za’Nobio showed his stuff, Shaniuk said.

When it came time to bat, Za’Nobio was second in rotation and approached the plate with a runner already on base.

“He took that first pitch and, man, he hit that ball so far out in left field and he was running around the bases so fast that he almost ran his teammate over,” Shaniuk said. “He was so excited. He got a home run with and RBI, and it sparked the team.

“And the team started hitting and they still lost the game. But because Za’Nobio sparked the team, it made it a game. I thought there might be a comeback.”’

Za’Nobio received the MVP ball at the end of the game with his name on it and all the coach’s signatures, Shaniuk said.

After the game, Za’Nobio stuck around for a while to hit some balls with his teammates.

When they got in the car to go to Shaniuk’s home in Cleveland, Za’Nobio told his father he was having trouble breathing.

Shaniuk had his son use an inhaler as they got onto Interstate 90 eastbound, but he said he realized it was a bad attack.

“I started speeding,” the father said.

Shaniuk said he thought the attack passed when he saw his son laying out in the back seat of the car.

But he soon realized that the seemingly good sign was the opposite.

Unable to make it to University Hospitals Elyria Medical Center, Shaniuk said he pulled into the Speedway on state Route 57 knowing that the Elyria Fire Department has a station nearby and sent Za’Nobio’s 9-year-old brother Z’Oceian Shaniuk into the gasoline station to request they call 911.

“I pulled him out of the backseat and he was turning blue,” Shaniuk said beginning to cry. “He died in my arms, really.”

Shaniuk tried to give Za’Nobio mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and the boy took a breath.

He believed his son would be OK, but Shaniuk said that was not the case.

Prayers for Za’Nobio

Once at the hospital, Za’Nobio was transported by helicopter to Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital in Cleveland where doctors struggled to save his life.

Shaniuk said that when he was able to see his son, he was on life support and he prayed that Za’Nobio would be OK and not have brain damage.

The family held a prayer vigil overnight and Shaniuk said there were lots of people who came.

“His principal from (Toni Morrison Elementary), his teachers, they were just devastated,” he said. “They just loved Za’Nobio.

“I couldn’t believe that three or four of his teachers and the principal came.”

In a letter to The Morning Journal, Shaniuk wrote that in that moment, he realized the impact his son had.

“As I looked around the room and saw all of the people there praying over my child, I realized that the pure joy that he gave to me was felt by many other people as well,” he wrote. “I’m grateful to my boy’s teachers and the principal of Toni Morrison School for being there through it all.

“Thank you for showing me that my sons could not be in a better school.”

Shaniuk also extended his thanks to Boys & Girls Clubs of Lorain and the Lorain County Youth Recreation Division.

“They’ve been great mentors all year for my two sons and many others,” he wrote. “I’ve watched them. Their passion runs parallel with their belief that it does indeed ‘take a whole village to raise a child.’”

What really took Shaniuk’s breath away was when he noticed all of Za’Nobio’s teammates and classmates who attended his funeral were wearing T-shirts with his son’s smiling face and his team number, eight.

“May God bless you all,” he wrote.

Za’Nobio