ConnectLife Blog

Story as told by Kenzie's mom Kenzie loved to make people laugh and cheer them up when they were down by telling jokes or acting silly. She also loved to help people, spend time with her friends and family, have slumber parties, and she especially loved all animals, including horses. She was well known for her love for the country artist, Luke Bryan. She loved beating me at backgammon, and she was getting pretty good at it, too! Kenzie loved being an aunt to her niece Maci. K

Cheryl Yurek was the most generous and loving mother, grandmother, friend, and person. She was the type of person that always had a kind word to say. Cheryl was both a living kidney donor and a donor again after her passing. Cheryl served her community as a volunteer firefighter, EMT, and PTA president.

Story as told by Shane's mother, Mindy My son Shane is now known as the fishing king. He had a deep passion for fishing and fished year round. When he wasn't at work he was either out on the lake or at the river doing what he loved. Shane had a huge heart and always helped others in need. He was wild and crazy and so much fun! He was a very outgoing and loving person always helping others however he could. I don't think Shane knew just how many people his life impacted. Shane

My dad was Superman. He was incredibly smart and outgoing. He was the type of guy that was just really supportive. If you had a dream, he always was the first one to back you up and support you or help you out with whatever you needed.

Story as told by Hannah's mother, Sue Hannah had such an amazing spirit. She was kind, insightful, and wise beyond her 23 years. People tell me how she changed their lives simply by being a part of it. She had a very positive outward energy in spite of her own internal struggles. She had an amazing and beautiful heart. She inspired others to keep trying and never let pitfalls get the best of her. Hannah truly was just a beautiful soul and a blessing to have in our world. Hann

Story as told by Thomas’ wife, Sandra Thomas and I were high school sweethearts. I was with Tom from when I was 16 years old until he died of an aortic aneurysm when he was only 33 years old. At the time, our daughter was seven and our son was five. Tom loved his family and friends dearly. When he would see his mother he would always give her giant bear hug. That was just the type of guys he was. He loved playing football in high school and also loved baseball, bowling, and h

Story as told by Michael's sister, Megan Allen Michael was an amazing father, brother, and uncle. His smile and laugh was contagious. He loved riding his motorcycle and being near the water. He was very protective and ready and willing to help anyone who needed it. To honor his memory, our family always talks about him and reminisce on the good times we spent with him. Has this post inspired you to share your hero's story? Submit your story to featured as ConnectLife's next d

He was able to donate corneas, tissue and bone, heart and lungs, kidneys, split liver, and pancreas. I was told his heart and lungs were donated to the same person. It is all very overwhelming to me. I hope to someday meet the recipients and be able to hopefully hear his heartbeat again. I hope his story helps inspire others to become donors. It gives me and my family some comfort knowing a part of him lives on out there somewhere, that someone was given a second chance at li

My mom had a liver transplant in 1997, and after that, both of them were involved in TRIO (Transplants Saves Lives) then UNYTS – so that they could help spread the word about organ and tissue donation. Our family is forever grateful to mom's donor and her family, for the 11 1/2 "bonus" years that we had with her. One of mom's favorite volunteer activities was the donor recognition ceremony, where she was able to present the "Tree of Life" gift to donor families.

Please remember to hug your loved ones as often as possible. I honor his memory by each year going to our favorite trail we would go walk at and say a prayer on the day he passed. I tell my daughter about her papa in heaven all the time and tell her stories about him. I will never forget him and the memories he gave me.

Story as told by Kevin's mother, Kathy Lohr-Mead (Schneider) Kevin was loved by all. He was a wonderful son, grandson, nephew, and big brother. He was most proud of being a father to his son Hunter, and he was a devoted father! He was also a Christian and gave his heart to Jesus when he was young. Some of Kevin's favorite things to do were reading, playing video games, hunting with his grandfather, and watching movies. He worked for UPS as a driver, and before that was in ROT

We were talking about organ donation and he mentioned to me that he wanted to be a donor. He asked me if I was and I told him yes, he then asked me how he could become one. I told him he could let the DMV know and they would put a heart symbol on his driver’s license. He took his license out of his wallet and was happy he had already let them know because he had the heart symbol. He said he wanted to help as many people as he could if he passed away.

Shannon was always my HERO, but she became a HERO to several other people that night. Organ and tissue donation was the only positive thing that helped get me through the loss. A few years later after writing, I met Shannon’s kidney recipients.

What I want people to know about Amber is that she lived and loved to help others. I want people to know it was sudden when we lost Amber and how much she is still missed every day.

Madison loved making people happy. She had the most infectious smile. She always put other people first before herself. Madison always wanted to make sure that everyone else was having a good time. She loved to spend time with her family, friends, and animals. Madison loved doing her hair and makeup, and was always perfectly styled. She was a free spirit.

Ali Gerlach was the model of success. As a senior in high school, she was an athlete. She excelled at softball as the left fielder for the Amherst Lightning, was a star volleyball player for the WNY Mizuno Storm, and excelled in bowling as a member of the Williamsville South squad.

Judy Hooper lived a life full of love! She was the type of person that had so much love to share and was always the heart and soul of her family. Her family remembers her for being the most giving and generous throughout her life; and even after as Judy was an eye and tissue donor.

Story as told by her daughter, Elaine My mother was an incredible woman! She raised four wonderful children, while also going back to school in her 30s. She was one of the most hardworking people; she worked tirelessly (20 hours a day 7 days a week!!) for what she believed in. She worked for the city of North Tonawanda's Recreation Department, and she ran all of the year-round programs for developmentally disabled children and adults. She gave them hope. She gave them love. S

Corinne Dulak was a devoted mother, sister, aunt and friend. Corinne was loved by every person she met. She fiercely loved her family and her friends, especially her son, Tom. Corinne was and still is her sister Lialan’s best friend; Lialan says that she talks to Corinne all the time and will continue to do so forever.

When John found out he needed a kidney transplant, Sunnie immediately volunteered to get tested to see if she was a match. Luckily, she was and she gave John a healthy kidney with zero hesitation! The transplant was a success, and John now has the energy to enjoy life and play with his 4-year-old.