My 17 year old son Hunter was a organ and tissue donor. He was involved in an auto accident where he sustained a head injury. My husband, being a volunteer fire fighter, was one of the first ones at the scene. He got to speak to Hunter, hold his hand, and tell him that he loved him. Hunter was air lifted to the hospital. We found out that he did not have much brain activity. However, they would continue to run tests. We spent the night praying, holding Hunters hand, and talking to him. The last test was run and still nothing.
We met with an individual from Mid-America Transplant who discussed organ donation options with our family. I, being his mother, had gone with him when he received his drivers license. They asked him at the drivers licence bureau if he'd like to be an organ donor. Without hesitation he said "yes of course!" I think back to that day quite a lot. Because of his strong desire to serve his country and others, Hunter wanted to be an organ donor.
Hunter passed in June 2016. He just graduated high school that May and was scheduled to leave for basic training 2 days after the accident. He participated in soccer, cross country and track & field. He was an animal lover and avid outdoors man, and enjoyed hunting and fishing. He liked spending time at the family farm with his bird dog, Maggie. Hunter was a friend to many, and held very special characteristics that others easily looked up to. He was a great role model, as his younger cousins looked to him as a superhero. His lifelong dream was to join the US Military because of his strong devotion to his family and country. Hunter enlisted in the United States Army—National Guard on August 11, 2015 and faithfully attended monthly duty and training while attending high school. He was promoted to E-2 due to his physical ability and work ethic. He was to report for his Basic and AIT training on June 15, 2016. Hunter’s final opportunity to serve others was his gift of organ and tissue donation.
Our family wears the green organ donor bracelets daily and have given organ donor pins and bracelets to hundreds in our community. We know that hundreds of people have benefited from Hunter's gifts and his desire to serve.
