Jaden was a 13-year-old boy with fiery red hair, a gentle soul, and a heart of pure gold. Full of life to live and love to give. His favorite things were listening to music, playing his XBOX, making videos for his YouTube account, and spending time with his girlfriend, friends, and family. His mother’s friends’ younger children were often drawn to him and, unlike your typical teenager, he was almost always very patient and eager to help. Before his death, he had begun self-teaching himself how to play the guitar and piano, and was showing progress. He was a food connoisseur and an exceptional cook for his young age. He planned to pursue a career in the culinary industry when he got older. But what he was the absolute best at was making people laugh. He did it very well, and he did it by any means necessary, usually putting on an entire show in the process. It wasn’t the best-case-scenario in the classroom setting, but he claimed “that’s showbiz, baby”.. and it is.. therefore rendering any counterargument invalid.
In May of 2019, at the end of his 7th grade year, Jaden was pronounced braindead after being shot at a sleepover two days prior. Heartbroken and devastated beyond words, his family made the decision to donate his organs; a decision they felt confident that Jaden would have made himself, had he been given the opportunity. Through organ donation — and with the guidance of Julie at Mid-America Transplant and their skilled transplant team — he was able to give the gift of life in the form of his heart, lungs, liver, right kidney, and his left kidney and pancreas.
In the last scene of his final act, Jaden delivered the performance of a lifetime in his starring role of giving FIVE people another chance at life. That’s showbiz, baby.
