“I Forgive for My Own Peace” — Austin Metcalf’s Father Speaks Out for the First Time, and the Words He Found After the Worst Week of His Life Are Leaving the Country Speechless

He drove to that stadium knowing something was wrong. He saw his son on a gurney and knew before anyone told him. And days later, he stood in front of a camera and said something that nobody — not even those closest to him — expected to hear.

He Knew Before the Doctors Said a Word

Jeff Metcalf got the call from a coach. His son Austin had been stabbed at the track meet. He jumped in his car and drove to the stadium. When he got there, Austin was already on a gurney.

He wasn’t breathing.

“I knew he was gone,” Jeff said quietly. “They were trying to revive him.”

They took Austin by ambulance to the hospital. Jeff gathered his other son, Hunter — Austin’s twin, the one who had pressed his hands on the wound and begged his brother to stay — and they drove together to wait for news that Jeff already knew was coming.

“My worst fears were confirmed,” he said. “They weren’t able to save him.”

The Last Trip They Ever Took Together

Just days before Austin was killed, Jeff had taken both his sons on a hunting trip. It was the last weekend on a lease the family had held for years — the landowner had chosen not to renew — and Austin had made one request before they left.

He had never shot a hog. He wanted to try.

They spotted some in the field while hunting turkey. No rifle on them. Jeff and the boys hiked all the way back to the cabin, grabbed the gun, and hiked all the way back out. They stalked slowly. Got within 50 yards. Jeff told Austin to put his gun on the fence post and take the shot.

He did. The hog dropped.

Austin was so excited he missed the next six. Nobody cared.

They drove to their favorite barbecue restaurant for lunch afterward, and somewhere between the food and the laughter, Jeff told his son something that has stayed with everyone who heard him repeat it on camera.

“I told him: you’ll be able to tell your kids about this day,” Jeff said. “The trophies are what you cherish. It was the best hunting trip we ever had.”

Four days later, Austin was gone.

“I Don’t Forgive for the Other Person”

When the interviewer asked Jeff whether he could forgive the boy who killed his son, the answer came without hesitation — but not without pain.

“I’m deeply rooted in my faith,” he said. “Without the Lord, I would not have the ability to forgive.”

He was clear about what forgiveness means to him and what it does not mean.

“I don’t forgive for the other person,” Jeff said. “I forgive for my own peace. I can’t carry that around with me. It would be like cancer — it would eat me up inside.”

He paused before adding: “Am I angry? Yes. I’m human. But I have to live with myself. So I have to forgive.”

He closed with a message he said the whole world needs to hear right now.

“What the world needs is more kind people. And if you can’t find one — be one.”

Austin Metcalf was 17 years old. He shot his first hog four days before he died. His father is still standing.

Source: Compiled from television interview and family statements.