Grants Legacy of Cycling and Discipleship

Leah Davis
Growing up in Tucson, Arizona, Grant Davis was a vibrant, faithful, fun-loving 16-year-old
with a passion for cycling and a hunger for victory. Every day except Sundays, Grant spent more
time riding his bike than doing homeworkabout 3-5 hours. Once an avid basketball player,
Grants injured knee that required surgery forced him to choose a sport with less impact and
pressure on his knee joint, so he took up cycling at age 14. Grant trained for races all over Arizona,
working with a personal coach and riding those long miles all by himself because he truly wanted to
get better and to win. Grant entered races as the youngest cyclist, sometimes, and would beat even
experienced riders by minutes.
In addition to racing locally, the summer between his sophomore and junior years of high
school, Grant was invited to participate in a development camp for talented cyclists in Flagstaff,
Arizona. He blew away all the competition by placing first in each time trial workout, and blew
away the coaches by answering their question of the best quality a coach looks for in an athlete with
his answer of humility. Though Grant truly excelled at his sport, he did not boast about his ability.
Grant was chosen to go to the Olympics training center in August 2006 based on his incredible
performance at the development camp.
On June 28, 2006, while on a training ride preparing for the US Junior Nationals race in July
2006, Grant was riding up a hill and collided straight on with a parked trailer on the side of the road.
He broke several vertebrae in his vertebral column, which cut off the signal from his brain to his
lungs. Although emergency teams supplied him with oxygen and flew him to the hospital as quickly
as possible, Grant never awoke from his coma.
While the family waited for news at the hospital, Grants friends and extended family visited
every day, offering comfort and support to each other and bestowing priesthood blessings upon
Grant. When doctors explained five days later after many MRIs and CAT scans that the severity of
his brain damage would prevent him from surviving and recovering, the Davis family decided to
donate his usable organs to patients in need of them. Carmelle Davis, his mother, shared that she felt
so peaceful when the doctors broke the news, because she knew it was simply Grants time to go,
and that he was needed in heaven.
In the wake of his unexpected passing, the Davis family felt very blessed to have such
wonderful ward members and family who helped cook meals and plan the funeral. A fireside was
held at the Davis church building for all community members who knew Grant to share their
memories and feelings about the tragedy. A group of Grants friends mothers asked the people in
attendance to write down on note cards their memories, and then sewed them onto a beautiful quilt
along with pictures of Grant. At the funeral, the Davis family was able to touch the hearts of many
nonmember friends, doctors, the biking community, teachers, and neighbors with their testimonies
of the plan of salvation and their faith that they would see their brother and son again someday.
The week before Grants death was very spiritual and memorable for the Davis family.
Grant went on the youth temple trip with his younger sister Leah to the Mesa Arizona temple to
perform baptisms for the dead just four days before the accident. Because he wanted to get in a
training ride that day, he woke up at 2 AM in order to ride his average 50-miler, while it was still
dark outside. That evening he and Leah attended their father, Dr. Stuart Davis graduation from
orthopaedic residency. On Sunday he received his patriarchal blessing.

Before his death, Grant had finished all the requirements and merit badges for Boy Scouts
and had almost finished planning his Eagle Scout project. Once he passed away, his Scout troop and
a group of his best friends decided to carry out the project in his memory. Along with 150 people,
they painted garbage cans and handrails at the stake campsite where girls camp and family camp
outs were held. Some helped clear off trails and fix light poles and others made sandwiches. All
participants enjoyed giving service and remembering their awesome friend and ward member.
In November 2006, friends and family members wrote to the race officials of the Tour de
Tucson, a 108-mile race comprised of about 8000 riders in which Grant had placed 41st in 2005, to
ask if they could ride a relay in Grants memory. A relay had never been done before, but they
received permission and, riding as two or three partners, they spent a long day riding and switching
off every 5-10 miles. They had special yellow shirts made just for the event that said, This ones for
you, Grant! on the back. Although it took twice as long for the relay to finish than it had Grant as a
single rider the year before, everyone had a great attitude and made it fun.
Three years later, the Davis family now lives in Billings, Montana. They continue to share
memories and rejoice in the great example that Grant showed to everyone. They tell their friends his
inspiring story and still hear about the lives that Grant touchedincluding an inactive old family
friend who had attended the funeral and felt impressed by Grants example to repent and serve a
mission. On the Davis familys most recent visit to Tucson to see friends in 2009, they visited a
brand new roadside memorial, a ghost bike, donated by an anonymous citizen. It is a real bike
frame painted white and cemented in the ground in the place of Grants accident. In a newspaper
interview, the donor said, "Doing ghost bikes is just a small way I can help give back to my riding
buddies. The ghost bike tradition is best kept silent. For me, I know the families are very grateful, the
community is talking about them, and I am quietly proud of what I have done."
Although Grants five younger siblingsLeah, now 17, Brady, now 14, Rhen and Kye, now
12, and Max, now 7still feel sad about the absence of their older brother, they feel comforted by
the truth of the plan of salvation. Rhen and Kye were baptized by Grant just after he turned sixteen
and was ordained a priest. They know that the eternal baptismal covenants they made were possible
because of their own worthiness and their brothers worthiness to hold the priesthood. Leah still uses
his seminary scriptures and loves to read the notes he wrote in the margins. By 2 Nephi 28:7-9, he
wrote, When we die in this life, everything is not over.
Leah remembers watching Grant read the scriptures every night at the kitchen table, say his
prayers, and say I love you to his parents and siblings before going to bed. He attended seminary
every school day and was very involved in Young Mens at church. He was an example of treating
everyone kindly and always was willing to lend a hand at homeexcept with cooking, his mom
and sister remark. Well-liked at school, Grant often was invited to parties which he would choose
not to attend because of his high standards and his commitment to staying healthy for his sport.
Grant was a great guy in all aspects of lifehe had excellent grades, played piano before audiences
and for his seminary class, and always kept everyone laughing. "Grant was a gifted young man and
one of the best people I have ever known," his father said.
Grants example will continue to shine as all who knew him remember his great smile, his
many talents, and his strong testimony.