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A Tragic Death And Inspiration

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 9, 2008

Charlotte Ray, whose 21-year-old son was struck and killed by a car in March 2007, makes a single request of well-wishers. "Don't forget him," she says gently.

No one attending the LifeLink breakfast Thursday in Tampa - at which Charlotte and husband, Emmitt Ray, were the featured speakers - will be able to forget their story or the importance of their cause: organ donation.

Only after their son Jason, the mascot for the University of North Carolina men's basketball team, was fatally injured did they learn that he had agreed to be an organ donor.

His decision saved the lives of four people, including a man whose heart was so weak that he could scarcely turn over in bed. One of Jason's kidneys saved a bed-ridden teenager who now plays basketball. And Jason's tissue has been used to enhance the lives of more than 120 people.

During the breakfast, organizers played an ESPN TV segment in which the Rays met with the four people who received their son's organs. It was a heartbreaking story, but also uplifting. The Rays could see their "great gift" in others.

Now they are devoted champions of organ donation and supporters of organizations such as LifeLink, the nonprofit Tampa operation that provides services to transplant patients and donor families.

Agreeing to be an organ donor - easily done when renewing one's driver's license - is a simple step that carries profound consequences. Jason's decision to become an organ donor not only saved lives and touched hundreds of families, it also brought his parents solace during an unbearable tragedy.

So listen to the Rays. Remember Jason - and the example he set.

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