She Believed in Helping Everyone
Jazmyne was smart. So smart, she helped everyone else with their homework before sitting down to do her own. “That was typical of Jazmyne. She always believed in helping everyone,” said Jazmyne’s mother, Tanyice Davis, of Belleville, Illinois. So, when their 9-year-old daughter died from a severe asthma attack in September 2007, Tanyice and her husband Clarence knew Jazmyne would have wanted to help others and chose to donate her organs.
Tanyice said, “No matter what a person’s circumstances were Jazmyne would find something good to share to lift their spirits. Whether it was through her smile, a joke, or her hugs and kisses, Jazmyne wanted everyone to be happy.”
The Davis family – including Jazmyne’s older sister, Taneisha, and her younger brother Clarence III, keep Jazmyne’s spirit alive through participating in many community awareness programs. They share their story on the Life Goes On poster, published by the Illinois Secretary of State’s (SOS) office, which promotes organ and tissue donation. The poster hangs in the Illinois Department of Motor Vehicle offices.
Earlier this year, the family also held their first annual Celebrate Life Skate Jam, in memory of Jazzy who loved to dance. One-hundred-fifty skaters attended. An Illinois SOS representative signed up participants to be put on the state organ donor registry. The Mayor of East St. Louis and Venice were presented with t-shirts at the event.
Their community efforts and work has lead them to establish, Jazzy’s Gift of Life Foundation, designed to promote the need for organ and tissue donation, especially in the African-American community, and to raise awareness about asthma, its triggers and its preventions. It is likely we will continue to hear more about Jazzy as the Davis’s are also preparing for an inaugural Gospel Explosion – Bridging the Gap Between Hope and Help, to be held on Nov 9, 2008. And they are planning a walk in 2009, which will also become an annual event.
Community involvement helps Tanyice deal with missing Jazzy. “It is a way for me to hold onto her, to get the word out on the need for organ and tissue donation, continue her legacy, and inspire us to give. Though Jazzy may no longer be with us, we know that through her sacrifice and gift, her memory will live on forever.”
