"I was trying to be as grown-up as I could"- Sonny Gray once shared heartbreaking memory of his father on life support post harrowing car crash

In April of last year, the St. Louis Cardinals' newly acquired Sonny Gray shared a heartbreaking memory of losing his father and growing up without him. Jesse Gray and Cindy Gray were the pitcher's parents, with his father also being his coach.

From a young age, Gray taught his son about pitching in the big leagues. When Sonny was in high school, one night, his father was coming home from his second job at his brother-in-law's restaurant and died in an early morning car accident. Gray was 41 years old.

While recalling that incident on last year's Father's Day, Sonny shared via the Star Tribune:

“I woke from that bed early on a Thursday morning in late August 2004 and heared of his father's accident. I hadn't even known that my dad had another job beyond his days working for a car-wash chain. We rushed to the hospital and learned how my father's car had collided in an intersection with another vehicle as he was coming home from his shift. The other driver died; and my father was alive only because of a ventilator.”

He added:

“I remember being in the hospital room, where my father was hooked up to machines and tubes. Me, my mom and my oldest sister had to decide to end life support. And right after that unbearable choice, the hospital asked whether they would like to donate his organs.”

"I was trying to be as grown-up as I could, and I was like, 'Use every piece of him that you can,'" Gray recalled of his 14-year-old self. "'If it helps another family from having to go through this, use every piece of him that you can to help them out.'"

Sonny Gray had a football game on the night of his father's death. Despite being deeply hurt, he played because his father loved sports.

Sonny Gray signed a deal with the St. Louis Cardinals

Sonny Gray secured a three-year, $75 million contract with the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday. Last year, with the Minnesota Twins, the three-time All-Star posted an 8-8 record with an excellent 2.79 ERA and 183 strikeouts over 184.0 innings.

He was the runner-up in American League Cy Young voting last season, behind Gerrit Cole of the New York Yankees.

Gray has become the third starting pitcher to join the Cardinals this offseason, along with Kyle Gibson and Lance Lynn in rotation.