Granger Smith and his wife Amber are determined that some good will come out of the worst experience of their lives.
After their three year old son River died in a drowning accident last month, Granger and Amber released tribute t-shirts through Yee Yee Apparel, honoring River, and donating proceeds to Dell Children's Medical Center in Central Texas, the hospital which treated River following his accident. Over $200,000 was raised.
Now, the couple has revealed that River's organs were donated, saving the lives of two adults.
"I've always known I wanted to be a donor if anything were to ever happen to me," Amber wrote on social media. "I just felt that if I had viable organs, why would I go into the ground with them? My spirit would be in Heaven, so why not save a life if I could? Never in a million years did I think I would be making that decision for my baby.
"The doctors said donation was quite a process," she continued."We would have to search for viable recipients and it could take days. We knew River's spirit was in Heaven, but we couldn't bear to watch his tiny, earthly body be pumped full of all the medicines for 3 or more more days while they searched. They tried to expedite the process so our family could be in peace, told us they would take him back to operate the next morning, but we wouldn't know what organs could be used until after. With such a small body, organs had to be measured physically, not just by X-ray.
The Smiths knew this was the right thing to do, but it still wasn't easy. "I spent the night laying in bed with him, crying and talking to him while they kept running tests and taking blood. The next morning family and staff lined the hall for the "walk of honor". We told them River liked to go fast, so to honor him, they pushed him down that hall faster than they had ever pushed anyone. Granger and I held each other and cried.
But then they got the best gift to come out of this situation. "We got the letter that our tiny, red-headed hero gave life to 2 adults. A 49 year old woman and a 53 year old man. I cried when we opened it. Cried out of sadness & cried out of love. I'm so proud to be River's mama and I'm so grateful to God that he gave him to us for those incredible 3 years. I pray these 2 recipients live healthy, joy filled, full throttle lives just like Riv.
Amber closed her posting by urging others to consider organ donation. "It was one of the hardest, yet easiest, decisions we've ever made. There are over 113,000 people waiting for transplants & 20 people die each day waiting. Go to OrganDonor.gov to see how you can help give life as well."
One more way to "Live like Riv!"
