Building Engines
Earlier this year the Museum received a letter from Amy East of Brunswick, GA. Her son, 19-year-old Darren Pickren, is a Corvette enthusiast and mechanical engineering student at Mercer University in Macon, GA. Darren was on the President's List, and Amy had purchased him a 1981 Corvette to restore. Life was good!
"Right before Christmas, his dreams of getting a degree and pursuing automotive engineering got put on hold with the diagnosis of Hodgkin's Lymphoma. His prognosis is good, but this has been a real battle for him," Amy wrote.
"It was a surprise for the most part," said Amy. "I didn't tell him a lot right in the beginning. I knew it was his dream. He's always wanted to build high performance engines and he's always loved Corvettes. When he got sick with lymphoma I said 'what can I do to put a smile on his face?' So I emailed the people here at the Corvette Museum and they were an absolute blessing. It has brightened his days going through the chemo. He has a smile on his face all the time."
Darren and his mom visited the Museum the first week of July, working with Daniel Decker to swap out an engine on a C6 Z06 Corvette. "We got to tear the car apart, get the engine, take it out piece by piece, take the newer one, put it back in piece by piece," said Darren. "Corvettes have always been so special to me and I think a visit to this Museum and behind the scenes is just wonderful," added Darren.
According to Amy, the visit was an experience of a lifetime and a dream come true. "He has been on cloud nine since we came home. It means so much to me to see his spirits lifted this way."
Source: NMC