LI Woman Remembers Son's Classmate: 'He Leaves A Gaping Hole'

EAST HAMPTON, NY — Four years have passed since Kate Mueth, of East Hampton, saw a fellow mother at her son's college face her worst nightmare when her son died after being struck by an alleged drunk driver.

But despite the passage of time, the pain is still a heartbeat away. That's why this year, Mueth, who is celebrating her 54th birthday, is once again organizing a fundraiser in the name of Lucas Flint, to keep his legacy, cut short far too soon, alive.

"Here comes my birthday — January 26 — and my continued wish to support my incredible friend Susan Flint and her ferocious work remembering her beautiful son Lucas through The Lucas Flint Memorial Scholarship Fund my family founded four years ago," Mueth wrote.

Lucas was an avid film lover and student at Emerson College in Boston, majoring in visual media arts. "He saved five lives through organ donation when he was killed by a hit-and-run drunk driver while he was walking home from work," Mueth said.

She added: "If you’re able to honor Lucas, honor me, share in carrying the weight of losing a child too young, I humbly ask for your kind donation — of any amount — to this fund. May Lucas’ memory continue to be a blessing and an inspiration to young Emersonians coming to Boston to learn the craft of story telling."

To donate, click here. Or go directly to the Emerson donor page for Lucas’scholarship fund here.

The Patriot Ledger reported that the Norfolk County District Attorney’s office identified Flint, of Braintree, a 21-year-old student in Emerson College’s class of 2020. Flint was seriously injured when he was hit by a drunk driver on Washington Street and later died, according to the report.

The post added that police said the driver, 25-year-old Darrell Young of Quincy, did not stop after the crash and was later found in Holbrook; he was arraigned in Quincy District Court on charges of drunken driving causing serious bodily injury and negligent driving, leaving the scene of a crash causing personal injury, driving with a suspended license, driving an uninsured car and a marked lanes'violation, according to the report.

"This stole Lucas from his loved ones' world and cut short his excitement to be a creative force in our world. Lucas, through his absence, leaves a gaping, crushingly painful hole for those who loved and cared for him. In ways none of us will ever know, his absence leaves a gaping hole for all of us," Mueth wrote.

Mueth said she hopes to mark her Jan. 26 birthday by asking for donations that will all go to Lucas' parents, to be used for a memorial scholarship in his name at Emerson College.

According to his obituary, Lucas was a junior at Emerson College, Class of 2020, where he was studying film and media. He was the son of Susan M. Murphy-Flint of Braintree.

"His parents are amazing humans, courageous, brave and warm in the throes of this unimaginable horror," Mueth wrote.

Lucas, she said, had been accepted into Emerson's LA study program, although he didn't know it yet. "This boy had much life ahead of him," she wrote. "No mother, no father, should have their child robbed from them like this. In the mother-bond I know this pain is eternally unbearable. Insurmountable pain, but through action we can bend this deep suffering into mothering our child-spirits in a new way that allows for pain to mobilize into a different sort of mother love that will never be extinguished."

Speaking with Patch, Mueth explained her wish to reach out to a family she has never even met. Her son August Gladstone was a freshman at Emerson at the time, studying visual media arts, with a concentration in writing for film and television, but sadly, never met Lucas.

Lucas' mother Susan, Mueth said, told her that they wanted to create a scholarship in their son's name, "so, hopefully, the gift keeps giving for a long ripple."

Mueth's hope is that Emerson grads and others donate to make the scholarship an evergreen.
As the mother of an only child herself, Mueth said Lucas' death is hard to bear.

"The nightmare that Lucas' parents are experiencing is every parent's worst fear. Those things we cannot control no matter how many times we furtively look our children in the eye and say, 'Please be safe,'" she said. "We give birth to these tiny, vulnerable creatures and are forever changed as our hearts go walking out in the world away from us as they grow."

Asked why she chose to focus her birthday on the memory of a young man she'd never met, Mueth reflected.

"Almost every woman who has the experience of being a mother knows the unspeakable love for her offspring that comes with that experience. When I heard the news about Lucas‘ death hearing of this unspeakable horror that had occurred for another mother brought me unbearable sadness that I just couldn’t shake. Her son could’ve been my son. Her son was my son, really, when we think about what it means to be together on this planet. We all have to look out for each other. We all must mother and care for one another and each other’s children. It matters."

She added: "What kind of world do we want to be in? I want to be in a world where our humanity connects our hearts and makes sure that another’s broken-hearted pain is not carried alone. I want to make sure all children of any age are safe in our world. This requires all of us."

Lucas' mother Susan, Mueth said, "now walks the world with a grief that will never leave her. I’m only doing a small part in trying to help her carry that grief, to honor her strength and her love as a mother for her remarkable, beautiful son who was taken from this world far too soon."