NORTH -- “At my weakest point, William made me strong.”

Eugenia Grayton spoke those words of her 17-year-old son, William Hayward, whose nickname was Moody. His life came to an abrupt end Saturday afternoon following a car crash outside Orangeburg.

In 1999, Grayton lost her mother, Annie Evans. Hayward, then only 8, was there to help her pick up the pieces.

Grayton said her eldest son unselfishly stepped into the father’s role and helped raise his three siblings, Cleveland, Chicquoa and Whitney.

“When their brother died, they lost their daddy,” Grayton said.

Cleveland Hayward said his brother was the best.

“He showed me everything I know, basically,” he said.

William was a man beyond his years, cooking breakfast for his siblings and waking them up for school.

“We used to call him ‘Chef Boyardee William,’” his mother said.

When the family moved, he volunteered his weekends to paint the house. He also took care of his ailing grandfather, the late Willie Evans, during his youth.

William was a junior at Hunter-Kinard-Tyler High School. He planned to be a truck driver, his mother said.

The North teen died after losing control of his 2004 Ford Crown Victoria while traveling east on Sunny Drive, 7.5 miles west of Orangeburg, according to S.C. Highway Patrol Sgt. Kelley Hughes.

“It’s a mother’s worst nightmare to lose a son,” Grayton said.

Grayton said when Hayward got his driver’s license, she read him a poem entitled “Dead at 17” to encourage him to be careful.

“I’ll be OK,” were the words her son uttered with his deep-toned voice.

Grayton is coping with the tragedy by talking about her son’s good deeds.

She recalled when a young woman unexpectedly passed out and needed medical attention. The woman’s family didn’t have the money to drive to the hospital.

Grayton said Hayward gave that family his last $5 for gas.

“William was a person that anytime you called on him, the answer was never no,” she said.

In his final months, Hayward was homebound due to his asthma. Coreen Parler, an English teacher at H-K-T, would visit him at home to deliver his school work.

“He had a lot of friends,” Parler said. She described William as a happy-go-lucky person who was a dedicated, hard worker.

Grayton said her son loved to play the Madden football video game. He also raised pit bulls. With a tear flowing down her eye, Grayton pointed out a pit bull William named Baby Love the day of his passing.

William also loved fishing and took pride in his appearance.

“Every day was a happy day for William,” Grayton said. “William was a person that always had a smile on his face.”

H-K-T Principal Dr. Jonathan Francis said everybody knew Hayward as a very nice person. The school took a moment of silence Monday to remember him. Francis said this kind of event is always significant in a close-knit community.

Grayton said her son had a love for people like nobody else.

“I wouldn’t trade him for nothing in the world,” she said.

T&D Staff Writer Lee Tant can be reached by e-mail at ltant@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-534-1060.

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