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Alex Cabrero ReportingThere are stories we report on every now and then that remind us how precious life is. This is one of them. It's the story of one man who died way too early and how his family is left moving on without him.
Chris Eborn was a strong, healthy 34-year old man. This past weekend, with his wife watching, he competed in a triathlon, trying to make it to that difficult finish line, when life's finish line got to him first.
John Eborn: "This my favorite picture of the family."
They're the kind of pictures scrapbooks were invented for.
John Eborn: "He always had his kids on his shoulders."
John Eborn has been through the snapshots a thousand times in the past few days, looking for the one that best describes his younger brother Chris. He realized you couldn't, even if you had a million to choose from.
John Eborn: "He wasn't just a great man and a great brother, he was my best friend. And he was also an unbelievable dad and an unbelievable husband."
That's what makes one picture so tough for John to look at. It's Chris, just before the swimming portion of his triathlon this past weekend at Sand Hollow reservoir near St. George.
John Eborn: "He's walking into the water, waving goodbye to his wife."
There was no way either of them could ever know it would be their last goodbye.
John Eborn: "We think it was a blood clot or a massive cardiac event, or something like that."
Now, his wife Michelle is left with their four children, pregnant with their fifth. They themselves were born in the same Bountiful hospital, to the same doctor, just 16 hours apart.
John Eborn: "We kid because we say their first date was in the nursery, on July 7, 1971."
They were together from the start, and now John just wants to make sure his brother's family is taken care of until they're all together again.
John Eborn: "We can never bring Chris back and I can never have another conversation with my little brother, but we can make sure they're taken care of."
Chris Eborn's funeral is in Kaysville this Saturday. His brother would like to make next year's triathlon an event in Chris's memory.
A memorial fund has been set up in his name at Zions Bank. His family is working to create a memorial website at www.ChristopherEborn.com.
