CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. – The pain is still very real for parents like Annika and Mitch Dworet.
Feb. 14 will mark four years since the shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, a day 17-year-old son Nick Dworet was among 17 lives taken.
“You can’t imagine that your son will be shot in a school,” mother Annika Dworet said Monday. “You just cannot imagine that, and that will never get better — ever.”
As Feb. 14 nears, the community is urged to remember the 17 victims by doing something each of them loved.
Monday, for example, is the day to “munch on some Oreos” in honor of Dworet and his favorite snack. On Tuesday, people are encouraged to “do a random act of kindness” in honor of fallen MSD coach Aaron Feis. (See the full list at the bottom of this page.)
Dworet was getting ready to attend the University of Indianapolis on a swimming scholarship when his bright life was cut short.
Dworet got his first taste of the water at his home swimming pool in Coral Springs, eventually falling in love with competitive swimming.
“Making it to states and placing fifth in states is pretty good,” Annika Dworet said. “He did have quite a few colleges contacting him because they were interested.”
It is all now detailed in the book “Soul of a Swimmer,” written by master swimmer Carla Albano.
“I think it’s really a testament to how hard Nick worked to become accomplished,” his father Mitch Dworet said.
“The book is written from interviews with all his teammates and his friends,” Annika Dworet said. “And I think it’s nice to see Nick from different perspectives.”
It includes even some stories his parents didn’t know about.
“Nick wrote inspirational quotes on his whiteboard in his room next to his bed to motivate him to be a better person, to be a better athlete, to be a better friend,” Mitch Dworet said.
See the full details of the 17 Day Celebration below: