By Matthew Pruitt
Four-year-old Mckay Heasley jumped down from Santa''s lap - eyes filled with joy. 'Time to go,' his mother said as they began walking out the mall doors. 'Wait,' said Heasley, 'I forgot to thank Santa.' Heasley wouldn''t leave without thanking ole Saint Nick, even if that meant waiting again in the horrendously long line of holiday shoppers. Heasley waited in line once again as his family watched him approach Santa, this time not to ask but to give thanks.
'He wanted Santa to know that he was grateful for his time,' said Jill Shelley, Heasley''s mom. 'He just wants everybody to be happy.'
When Heasley, now a 22-year-old BYU mathematics major, met Santa, he wasn''t yet in kindergarten, but he already faced numerous health problems - trials which never kept him from showing gratitude and kindness.
'He was born with a heart condition, , so for the first 9 years of his life he couldn''t do what the other kids could do,' his mother said. 'It was not a rare condition, but he had an extreme condition. It''s very serious for a baby to have it.'
Heasley said his condition caused small heart attacks, sometimes lasting for hours at a time, when he was a child.
Despite his heart condition and his doctor''s orders, Heasley always loved to be active. Heasley''s parents didn''t know what to think for the first few months of his life, after the doctor told them even letting their son cry could cause an attack. Eventually Heasley had surgery on his heart, which allowed him to participate in volleyball and track in sixth grade.
'He was always inclined to be active but he couldn''t do much,' his mother said. 'That was really frustrating for him.'
After years of persistence, Heasley did overcome his heart condition. Now he is heavily involved in other sports and physical activities like racquetball, gymnastics and hiking.
'He doesn''t like to just run,' said Kristina Mitchell, Heasley''s girlfriend. 'He''d rather be throwing a Frisbee and running.'
Maybe he gets it from his Grandpa Rozier, who in 1990 was in Sports Illustrated for his 1989 world record for running 139 miles in 24 hours when over 50-years-old.
Wherever he got it, Heasley loves playing sports, and he''s naturally good at almost every one he tries, his friends said.
But after triumphing over one trial, Heasley was faced with another.
At age 6, Heasley''s heart took a second hit when he learned thieves had broken into his father''s gun shop and shot his dad several times causing near-fatal wounds. On the 911 tapes that would later be played on the TV rescue reenactment show 'Rescue 911,' Heasley''s dad, believing he would not make it, pleaded with rescuers to tell his wife and sons he loved them. Heasley''s dad lived, and that experience brought his family closer together.
Six years later, as Heasley''s dad was closing up shop, he wasn''t so lucky.
'My mom was actually on the phone with him when he got shot,' Heasley said. 'She heard a loud bang and he told her to call the cops.'
His mom wasn''t sure what the bang was, but she was worried and called the cops, only to find other neighbors had already called concerning the incident. She then began to call around the neighborhood to find out if anyone was hurt. She finally found out someone had been hurt, and it was her husband, Heasley''s dad.
' they put us in the quiet room where they tell families that loved ones have died,' Heasley said. 'That''s when they told us.'
Heasley''s trials have led him to delve deeper into the scriptures and gain a stronger testimony for himself.
'Maybe that''s why he''s so insightful when it comes to the gospel because that''s probably where he turned a lot of attention to when his dad died,' said Jacob Riddle, 22, Heasley''s roommate and a missionary in his district at the MTC three years ago.
'To me Mckay Heasley is like Nathaniel of old: ''an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile,''' said Riddle, a junior majoring in biology.
Another of Heasley''s roommates and a former mission companion, Steve Orton, agreed.
'He''s one of the few people I know who are without guile,' said Orton, a sophomore studying business. 'He''s very much an open book.'
Heasley has equally impressed his stepfather, Dennis Shelley.
'I''ve never known anyone who''s like him,' Shelley said. 'Truthfully I''ve never heard him say an unkind word about anybody.'
Even with the death of his father, having so many reasons to think of himself, Heasley continued throughout high school to think more about others.
One morning before school, Heasley told his mom about a girl he was interested in asking out. He had resolved to ask her to prom that day. But when he came home that evening, he informed his mom that he was going to the prom with a different girl.
'Why?' his mother asked.
Heasley replied that he had asked a girl whose date cancelled on her after she had already bought her prom dress.
'It''s your prom, and you should go with whoever you want,' his mom reminded.
'But Mom,' Heasley said. 'She already bought her dress.'
Heasley handled his family trials well and didn''t let them cause strain in his family relations, but instead allowed his trials to strengthen the bonds in his family.
'He never caused a moments trouble ever,' Heasley''s mom said about him growing up. 'At home he was a peacemaker.'
One night, Heasley''s mother woke up in the middle of the night hungry. She fixed herself a waffle, but she didn''t eat very much of it and left it out on the counter.
'The next morning I woke up late, and Mckay had already gone to school,' Heasley''s mom said. 'He left me a note on the plate saying, ''Thank you so much Mom for making me this waffle. It made my day.'''