Community Members, Athletes Show Support for Bullied Utah Teen

A Utah teen who was the target of vandalism and bullying for years has been showered with support from local athletes and community members.

Seth Holdaway, the teen’s father, said their home had been targeted for vandalism— eggs had been thrown at the house, cars had been covered in mayonnaise and mustard, and vulgar images had been etched on their fence.

“We put (the pictures) on social media because we wanted to find out who had done it and we wanted it to stop,” he told KSL.

Holdaway said his son, Luc, was the target of most of it. The most recent incident that took place was when Luc’s car got covered in horse manure on his birthday.

“When you’re turning 17, that’s not the kind of attention you want to get,” Seth Holdaway said.

The photos posted on social media and a KSL story prompted people to step up to the plate and help the teen and his family.

This Pleasant Grove teen woke up on his birthday to find his car covered in horse manure. His father says the vandalism has gone on for years and HAS to stop. Hear from him on @KSL5TV at 6pm #ksllive pic.twitter.com/PcliM1OrZm

— Ashley Kewish (@ashleykewish) November 11, 2019

First, officials from two different police departments worked together to track down those involved in the horse manure incident.

Then, a series of athletes and companies reached out to show their support.

Utah Jazz players Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert invited Luc to a game. After Mitchell warmed up for the game, he took the shoes he was wearing and gave them to Luc.

A local car wash company also reached out to the family later in the week to offer free car washes for a year, and the Holdaway household also had a home security system installed.

Although Luc was too shy to speak to the press on Friday, his father passed along his thank you message.

“His number one message is a thank you for the heartfelt love,” Holdaway said. “He also wants to move it forward and help people who have had much worse situations we did so we can make the community a better place.”