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Land O'Lakes boy's caring reputation lives on

By Helen Anne Travis, Times Staff Writer
In print: Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Austin Carter, known for rescuing animals, died Monday from injuries from a go-cart accident.
	[Special to the Times]

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LAND O'LAKES — Ten-year-old Austin Carter would hold up Sunday school class to save lizards that wandered into the room. He worried the creatures missed their families.

Earlier this year, Austin revived a nonbreathing newborn puppy. He had a reputation for rescuing hurt kittens, bunnies, even insects.

Austin died Monday from injuries suffered in a weekend go-cart wreck. Even after death, he's still rescuing.

"We donated his organs and he already saved six kids' lives," said his father, Rhett Carter, 36. "I know this is what he wanted."

Friends teased Austin, a fifth-grader at Pine View Elementary, because his fingernails were always dirty. He loved the outdoors, and even as a kid, was an avid hunter and fisherman.

"He was all boy," said Tonya Stout, 42, director of the children ministry at First United Methodist Church, where the Carters attended service.

Sunday afternoon, after church and the family grocery shopping trip, Austin, his 8-year-old sister, Brianna, and stepbrother, Colin Harbaugh, 14, went with a group of neighborhood kids to a nearby field for an afternoon of off-road riding.

Rhett Carter had just settled down to watch the Tampa Bay Buccaneers take on the Green Bay Packers when his daughter and a neighbor rushed into the house.

"They told me Austin was knocked out," Carter said Tuesday.

Austin hit his head on a concrete pole after he lost control of his go-cart, which was being pulled by an all-terrain vehicle driven by a 14-year-old neighbor, according to the Pasco County Sheriff's Office.

He was not wearing protective gear.

Austin was pronounced brain dead around noon Monday.

"He'll be greatly missed," said Pine View Elementary principal Cortney Gantt. "He was just one of those all-around good, kind kids."

Grief counselors helped Pine View students and teachers deal with the loss Tuesday.

Students in his sister Brianna's third-grade class decorated cards and were given etiquette lessons on the types of questions to ask when she returns to school.

Tuesday afternoon, Rhett and Natalie Carter's Ehren Cutoff home was filled with friends, family and well-wishers.

"It helps a lot," Carter said.

The company distracted the family from dwelling on Austin's toys that were scattered about the house. He was supposed to clean his room Sunday.

The family has not made funeral arrangements. They imagine a service will be held sometime this weekend.

In the meantime, the Carters feel peace at the thought of strangers benefiting from their son's donated organs.

"He was the most caring, loving and full of life child you would ever know," his mom, Natalie, wrote in an e-mail to the Times. "He was truly our angel and is now giving the gift of life to other families."

Helen Anne Travis can be reached at htravis@sptimes.com or (813) 435-7312.