PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WMBB) — April is National Donate Life Month, raising awareness about the importance of registering as an organ donor.
Ascension Sacred Heart Bay kicked off the month by honoring a donor family and the organ recipient.
“I just always tell myself that he’s still here with me and he was a hero,” Sophia Ray, daughter of organ donor Brad Ray said.
The 10-year-old girl remembered her father at Ascension Sacred Heart Bay’s Donate Life Month Flag Raising Ceremony Friday. The event celebrates organ donors and the lives they save.
“We’ve had over 19 donors over the past year, and when you think about one donor being able to impact a hundred different recipients it’s a tremendous impact that literally has touched thousands of recipients,” Ascension Sacred Heart Bay President & CEO Robin Godwin said.
Ray was only 31 years old when he suddenly collapsed while visiting Panama City Beach. Paramedics took him to Ascension Sacred Heart Bay where his family was told he wasn’t going to survive. Ray was a registered organ donor. His organs saved several lives, including a local veteran.
“My heart just was not functioning right anymore with the pacemaker. I am a miracle. I’m the perfect miracle to show that donating your organs works, especially with Brad’s family. They know that he was a miracle,” organ recipient, Darryl Jenkins said.
Jenkins said Ray’s donation is his biggest blessing.
“He’s probably the biggest angel I’ve ever met. These people are angels, and, like I said, they’re sitting up there with the right hand of God.”
Sophia Ray said she hopes to meet all of the organ recipients her father helped save.
“I’m just very happy for you that my dad was a hero and saved y’all’s lives. I hope I get to meet y’all someday.”
For more information on organ donations and their impacts, click here.