Former Chief Kendall Gammon creates video ‘thank you’ site in honor of teen killed in Joplin tornado

Kendall Gammon didn’t think much about the game ball he gave a young Will Norton many years ago.

That’s just what the former Kansas City Chiefs long snapper did before games. Handed a kid a ball. And the Nortons had been his neighbors for years, with Gammon’s two boys often playing with Will and his sister Sara.

It wasn’t until June 2011, a few weeks after Will Norton died in the Joplin tornado, that Gammon realized what the ball — and he himself — meant to the young man. On a visit to see the Nortons, Gammon went into Will Norton’s room and saw his old jersey number, 83, painted on the wall. And there on a shelf was the football he’d handed the boy that day.

“It was like a punch in the gut,” Gammon said. “I instantly started to weep.”

Later, it would get him to thinking. Not just about Norton, but about life. Too often people don’t know when they’ve made a difference in someone’s life.

If they knew, Gammon wondered, would it spur them to show that kindness to other people? Would those people then pass it on?

“In this day and age, we touch a picture or we touch the outline of a heart (on Twitter) to show that we like something,” Gammon said. “But there’s nothing more powerful than actually seeing someone tell you, ‘Thank you.’ ”

Here’s where The Will Wall comes in.

In the years since Norton’s death, Gammon came up with the idea to create a social media site solely about thanking someone. As he explains it, anyone can record a short video on their smartphone or computer — he calls them “selfie thank-yous.”

“It could have been they held the door open for you that day,” said Gammon, a field reporter for the Chiefs Radio Network. “… Or it could have been something your fifth-grade teacher did. Maybe a coach. … It could be two days ago or 20 years ago.”

The person receiving the “game ball video” then can be notified by email or text or a “shoutout” if that information isn’t known.

The site officially launches Sunday, the tornado’s fifth anniversary. It already has videos from retired NFL defensive lineman Jared Allen, other football veterans, Gammon and Trish Norton, Will’s mother.

The wall is a fitting tribute, said Mark Norton, for his son was a pioneer on YouTube, gaining quite a following. Also because Will Norton was all about letting people know what he was feeling, never letting the day end without telling his parents he loved them.

‘He was gone’

Volunteers and authorities searched for the 18-year-old’s body for five days.

All anyone knew is that Norton and his father were in the teen’s SUV — having just left the high school graduation — when the weather turned ugly. They hoped they’d make it home before the hail came down.

They had a window cracked, listening to the storm sirens. The closer they got to home, the worse the weather looked.

“Then all of a sudden, it came down on us,” Mark Norton said.

As Will Norton pulled over, he started reciting verses from the Old Testament. His father didn’t recognize them.

“I remember thinking, ‘He’s scared,’ and wondering where he got the Scriptures,” Mark Norton said.

Fierce winds picked up the SUV two or three times, flipped it and slammed it to the ground. Mark Norton had an arm around his son.

When stillness filled the air and the storm had passed, Mark Norton felt hail hitting his face. The top of the vehicle had been peeled off. Where was his son?

“I started screaming for him,” said Mark Norton, who had suffered many broken bones and was hospitalized for about two weeks. “But he was gone.”

In total, 161 people died in the tornado, and more than 1,000 were injured.

Will Norton wanted to be a filmmaker and attend Chapman University in California. He’d rushed to the mailbox each day until the acceptance letter finally came.

Chapman had a memorial service for him in August 2011, carving his name in a granite wall with the names of students and teachers who have died over the years.

“He’s the only person on that wall that never attended a class there,” Mark Norton said.

Now his son will have two walls bearing his name. The Nortons hope people remember that he was a “grateful, generous and loving young man who cared deeply of others.”

The Will Wall is one way to keep memories of their son alive.

“It gives you hope,” Mark Norton said. “That good things can happen from bad things.”

Facebook of thanks

Kristi McGowen, a business teacher at Joplin High School, thinks back to the little things Will Norton would do.

He set up her first Twitter account and sent her the first tweet. In the weeks before the tornado, he had nominated her for the Golden Apple award given to Joplin teachers.

The night of the banquet, where the winner would be announced, she texted him and admitted she was nervous.

He assured her, “You deserve this,” and added, “Whatever happens, we’ll celebrate tomorrow.”

She won. And in class the next day, there was Norton with brownies and a gift certificate.

“He wanted anyone to feel they were worthy of whatever it may be,” said McGowen, who spoke at Norton’s service and plans to post a video thanking him on The Will Wall. “Will was the one to always show up and be appreciative of what everyone was doing. … If he were here today, I’m sure he’d be the first one to get on and post something.”

As part of the launch, a crew with Overflow Storytelling Lab, a Lenexa multimedia company, went to Joplin and documented Norton’s story. The company also captured Gammon talking about the importance of showing gratitude.

“The great things about The Will Wall is it’s really focused on one clear intent,” said company founder Shane Brethowr. “The moment to help someone say ‘thank you’ — before it’s too late. … It’s like a video ‘Chicken Soup for the Soul.’ ”

One early video is from Trish Norton. She thanked the Rev. Aaron Brown, the minister at St. Paul’s Methodist Church in Joplin.

“Aaron, you have been a wonderful inspiration to me,” she said into the camera. “You gave us hope when there was no hope. You have been so kind and helping to everyone. … You came to the hospital, you came to me and said, ‘Trish, they found Will, but he didn’t make it.’ And I know those were very hard words for you because we all hoped Will was going to make it and be fine.

“Honestly and truly, if anybody had to tell me that Will had died, I’m glad that it was you. I mean that from the bottom of my heart. Thank you, Aaron.”

The goal is for The Will Wall to become commonplace, where people can follow others or be followed.

“What have you done that makes someone put your number on their wall?” Gammon said. “Let’s pay it forward and push the power of gratitude. It’s just that simple.”

This story was originally published May 19, 2016 at 2:30 PM with the headline "Former Chief Kendall Gammon creates video ‘thank you’ site in honor of teen killed in Joplin tornado."