Stories of Hope

Cody

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When you say “Yes” to becoming an organ and tissue donor, you’re not just checking a box. You’re bridging hope from one life to the next. Cody, of Pueblo, Colo., is one of the many donor recipient stories in our community. In 2023, Cody felt like an “abutment” on that bridge of hope. After serious illness left him in desperate need of a liver transplant, in early 2024, Cody received the gift of life from a generous donor. Organ donation stories can help inspire the community to check the box at the DMV. That’s why Cody is now determined to share his story to help Coloradans understand the impact. 

“When you make that decision to be a donor, you’re not only affecting one person’s life, you’re making a ripple effect through everyone they’re connected with, hundreds of lives,” said Cody. “It’s a ripple effect that your donation can offer to the community.” Liver donor stories, like Cody’s, show our community’s collective commitment to being “Rocky Mountain Strong.” Thanks to his generous donor and their family, Cody is enjoying his newly bought home with his fiancé (and their dog) and living each day to honor his donor’s precious gift. 

“Statistically, I shouldn’t be here right now,” said Cody. “Something I think about every day is that that gift to me is a debt I can’t repay. So, I hope to be able to tell the donor’s family at some point that that gift is very much appreciated, more than I can express.”

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Clayton

Beth and Larry Sparks will always remember their son Clayton as kindhearted, full of life, and the kind of person who made everyone feel like they belonged. In 2019, Clayton died at just 24 years old. Before his death, he made the decision to be an organ donor. That decision now lives on in multiple […]

Rita

Rita believed that generosity was a way of life. “I am always blessed to receive because I am always willing to give,” she would often say. When Rita passed away in 2023, her daughter, Elita, found solace in those very words. Knowing her mother had chosen to be an organ donor helped shift her focus […]

Kelsi

Kelsi was 23 when doctors diagnosed her with adult idiopathic scoliosis and told her she’d eventually lose the ability to walk.  Surgery was her only chance to live a normal life and a tissue donor was her best chance at a successful surgery. Her pain was already debilitating, but with a curve that was increasing […]