Jaelynn Yarrish and her mom Jamie were in a tragic car accident on August 25, 2020. Jamie was recovering from her extensive injuries, but her infant girl Jaelynn tragically died. While Jamie and her family are grieving the loss of Jamie's daughter, they have also managed to find a way to bring about something beautiful from Jaelynn's death.
Jaelynn's family decided to donate her organs. Thanks to their selfless decision, three other babies are now alive, healthy, and with their own families.
Jaelynn's cousin, Kimmy Laverty, said:
“Jaelynn is a hero. She saved three children who are no longer in need of organs and life-saving surgeries. These three children have been blessed with beauty and a loving soul. Let us hold our families tight as we can not see the future and won’t know when our time is to come.”
Jaelynn and her mom were traveling down Route 3 in New Jersey when a Mack Conventional Cab dump truck hit their car. Their vehicle then hit another car on the road.
The Passaic County Prosecutor's Office quickly issued a plea for public assistance following the accident:
"A 2005 Mack Conventional Cab dump truck, being operated by forty-year-old Chad Hines, of Wantage, New Jersey, struck a 2019 Honda Civic driven by a twenty-five-year-old female Clifton resident who along with a minor passenger were transported to Saint Joseph's University Medical Center. After the initial collision, the Mack dump truck struck a 2013 Subaru Outback, being operated by a fifty-four-year-old male Nutley, resident and the Honda Civic struck a 2020 Chevrolet Traverse, being operated by a thirty-five-year-old male Nutley, resident."
Jamie and Jaelynn were quickly transported to a local hospital, where each was admitted. Jamie, who suffered multiple injuries including several fractures and a brain bleed, was immediately taken to an ICU. Jaelynn was placed into a medically induced coma upon arrival at the hospital.
Jamie and Jaelynn's family began raising money for the pair, as their medical costs are likely to be extensive. Kimberly Laverty describes Jamie as an amazing single mom:
"Jamie is a single mother who has been working full time to provide her daughter with unconditional love and support. Growing up she was a star athlete and always putting her family before anything she ever had."
"With the extent of the treatment these two will need to receive, I would like to ask on behalf of them for any and all donations to help any medical expenses, longterm treatments and care they will need from here on out. This road to recovery will not be easy but when we all come together we always make things work. It takes a village and no matter how small or large a donation we receive, my family and I are unbelievably grateful for your help and support!"
Two days after the accident, Kimberly shared the Jaelynn was showing signs of "major brain damage" and that the hospital staff did not expect the baby to survive. The family updated the GoFundMe page on August 30 with the news of Jaelynn's death.
While the decision to donate Jaelynn's organs had to be a difficult one to make, the benefits of deciding upon such a selfless act are innumerable. Oftentimes, one donor can save the lives of several people at once. In Jaelynn's case, she was able to save the lives of three other babies with her organs. That's three other babies who will hopefully live full lives, and three other families who have received the gift of their child's life.
The benefits of organ donation are really wonderful. For starters, donating organs helps extend the lifespan of someone else. Since the success rate of organ donation is pretty high, donating organs following death means that someone else (or likely several people) will be able to go on living for quite some time.
Organ donation also improves the quality of life for the person, or people, who receive the organs. Receiving an organ might enable someone to be able to live without medication for the first time in their life, or it might help someone else avoid expensive and potentially dangerous or invasive surgeries and procedures.
Right now, at least 112,000 people in the United States are on the waiting list for an organ donation, and nearly 40,000 organ donation surgeries were performed in 2019. Sadly, at least 20 people a day die while waiting on the organ donation list.
If you're interested in registering to be an organ donor, the process is pretty simple: You can even do it online. While 90% of adult Americans support organ donation, only 60% are actually registered as donors, so there is definitely a need for more people who are willing to donate their organs to someone else.
