It aims to raise awareness about the importance of organ donation

July 30 – Tammy Bishoff celebrates this letter.

Because every time she rereads it, she knows that Brayden, in essence, is still alive.

Each time she rereads it, she knows that its author is still having an earthly time—sometimes irritating, but mostly good—and it’s all because of the generosity shown by her 15-year-old son when he checked that box that afternoon.

The letter was from a person who benefited from an organ transplant after his son’s death. Brayden was the donor.

“Brayden was pretty straightforward about it,” the Bruceton Mills woman recalls.

“He thought if he could do something that would help someone, he would do it.”

Brayden was working on paperwork to get his learner’s permit when he arrived at the aforementioned box asking if he wanted to be an organ donor.

“Brayden checked the box,” his mother said, “and that was it.”

Then, something tragically unthinkable happened.

Brayden was a passenger in a car that skidded off a Preston County road in February 2019.

He suffered serious injuries. A week after that accident, on the night of February 14th — Valentine’s Day — he slipped away.

But his organs were harvested so others could live. Bishoff doesn’t know all the details.

She also doesn’t know, other than a letter, how many lives her son may have saved through his generosity, or the quality of life of others chronically in need of a transplant.

She just knows he checked the box – and wants you to do the same.

This year’s West Virginia Donor Day is Thursday. It’s an opportunity to learn about the life-affirming importance of doing what Brayden decreed.

Visit /wvdonorday/ to find out how you can register.

There, you will learn that just one donor can save eight lives – the reason for the 8-1 encounter – while helping to heal 75 other people.

Greg Sabak knows all about this.

On July 24, 2016, with literally weeks to live, he underwent a successful heart transplant.

“I was pretty much done,” said the Westover man, who now volunteers to spread the word at the Center for Organ Recovery and Education offices in the Pittsburgh and Morgantown areas.

“I celebrate my donor every day,” he said. For him, the greatest gift is time. Time to spend time with your son, Spencer. The two play golf, bowl and participate in 5K races.

Sometimes they do nothing.

In the meantime, Bishoff wants you to keep time in mind if you’re still thinking about checking that box.

For a mother, some things cannot and will not die, she said.

Brayden’s ease with people.

The fact that he could make people laugh – whether through a funny remark or shameless clowning.

Sometimes people start conversations at the supermarket checkout, she said, now that she has become more visible in her role as an advocate.

Either they are transplanted or someone they love is.

“They tell their story,” she said. “Just hearing your gratitude makes a difference.”

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