Amy Hubert wanted to do something bigger.

Her son James should have turned 18 in May. He should have graduated from high school.

He never even made it to kindergarten.

After falling and being discovered in the backyard pool at Huberts newly rented home in Georgia, the 16-month-old was confined to a hospital bed.

James organs slowly started working during the first week. Although he flat-lined, the occasional beep on the monitor gave his family hope. But, the toddler never woke up.

By the end of the second week, doctors ran tests and determined James was brain dead. Hubert and her husband decided to pull the breathing tube out of James mouth.

I did not stay in the room, Hubert said. I couldnt do it.

After James died in 1997, the family did little things like donating his viable organs and planting a tree at Carl Levin Park when they moved to Harker Heights in memory of him.

This year his family decided to donate $2,500 to the districts alumni association for the James K. Hubert Memorial Scholarship.

Weve been trying to do things to make something good out of bad, as much as you can, Hubert said. Education is very important to us, too. My husband came from a very, very small town in Texas. Hes the first not only to graduate from college, but then he went to medical school and he knows what education has opened up in his life.

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A toddler's gift