NASCAR driver Joey GaseNASCAR driver Joey Gase will greet fans and offer donor families, recipients and supporters the opportunity to sign their name or the name of their loved one on his car that will race at noon, Saturday, May 6, in the Sparks Energy 300 at the Talladega Superspeedway. The car signing event will be held from 9:30-10:30 a.m., Thursday, May 4, in the second floor atrium of the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Women and Infants Center.
Gase, a Donate Life advocate, will be driving a Sparks Energy-sponosored car that will prominently display the Donate Life logo on the hood along with a picture of Kobe Cameron, an organ donor at the age of 6. Kobe’s picture will be on the trunk lid. The Alabama Organ Center and Mississippi Organ Recovery Agency will be sponsors of the car for the race.
The Cameron family will be attending the race on Saturday, May 6, knowing that Kobe’s tragic death helped others through organ donation.
“We had no idea the extent of the impact of donating Kobe’s organs would have on us,” said Courtney Cameron, Kobe’s mother. “At the time we made the decision to donate, we were desperate to bring something good from this tragedy we were faced with. Meeting other parents at Children’s of Alabama and hearing the life stories of their children and the battles they’ve endured helped us realize that Kobe could possibly help another child. This realization ultimately brought us to organ donation. Donation has given us hope that our sweet little boy is continuing to live on in the lives of others, and knowing that in a small way he will be able to have the life experiences we dreamed of for him has tremendously helped us in our daily grief. The Alabama Organ Center has been phenomenal with helping us through the process of losing our son. As parents who have lost a child, the one thing we worry about is that Kobe will be forgotten. The Alabama Organ Center has removed that worry from our hearts because they’ve made us feel as though it’s their mission to tell the world about Kobe and all of the other donors who are the real heroes of this world.”
Kobe’s organs helped save the lives of five people, including three children.
Gase became a Donate Life advocate after his mother, Mary Jo, died suddenly of a brain aneurysm in April 2011. Just 18 at the time, Joey made the courageous decision to donate her organs, and since then he has become an supporter for organ donation.
Currently, 54 percent of the U.S. adult population are registered organ, eye and tissue donors; 34 percent are registered in Alabama. Still, the number of people in need of transplants continues to outpace the number of organs donated. More than 119,000 people are waiting for a transplant and a second chance at life. On average, 22 people die each day because the organ they need is not donated in time. That is almost one person dying every hour. Registering your decision to become a donor is the most effective way to save lives through donation and is a sign of support to those who continue to wait.
Visit www.alabamaorgancenter.org today to register your decision to make life possible and be an organ, eye and tissue donor.