Yes Rodeo Ambassadors Program - Donor Connect

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April begins National Donor Month

It is officially April and the beginning of National Donor Month. Now that the news is out I am so excited to introduce you to the man behind why this program was created. Let me tell you a story about a boy named Sue. His real name is actually Roger but his dad was quite persistent on the middle name Sue due to the great gospel of Johnny Cash. What boy with that middle name wouldn’t grow up to be strong but also know humor at an early age? Roger Dodger had many great nicknames growing up but the greatest of all would be “super hero”. Roger is and will forever be the youthful and spontaneous age of 24. How could a young soul be taken from the stage in the middle of their song? While we will never truly understand a life taken too early we are thankful for God’s hands in those trying days. Roger was put on life support until he was deemed “brain dead”. The news was gut wrenching but the biggest challenge began of allowing Roger to be an organ donor. A mother losing a child was difficult to say the least but the choice of life for others was the easiest decision. We lost the battle of keeping Roger here on earth but the war was won by passing his opportunity of life onto five others. The beat of his drum (heart) was given to a mother. A child got to witness that song laying on his mother’s chest. His lungs continue to breath fresh air in Alaska underneath those Northern Lights. One kidney allowed a mother of five to love her children longer and his liver went to a single father. Roger’s other kidney and pancreas went to a young man that keeps his family’s farm going. The new homes and lives of his organs touch every aspect of Roger’s life. Roger is up north where we can no longer send him birthday cards. However, I truly believe every night when the sun sets that these are our visiting hours with those up on top of that high mountain.
More than ever the words ring true that we never know what this life holds but what we know for sure is that we can give life after death. When the credits roll and the show is over you will get to witness all the roles in life you played. I hope they show your wild days but also show that you are more hero. Please sign up to be an organ donor. It is easy and simple. If you need any help in doing so please comment on any post and one of our ambassadors will be sure to help you. .org

Happy Birthday to our amazing Ambassador Katelyn Barsnick

Happy Birthday Bruin Bradshaw, wishing you an amazing year, thank you for all you do to bring awareness to others about the importance of being an organ donor

God Bless the hero, his family and the gift he gave, prayers to the little cowboy for complete healing

I told you all about baby Bodie Lane Phillips being in desperate need of a liver transplant about six weeks ago. The response by our rodeo family—the prayers and volunteer testing to see if you were a possible match—was overwhelming. I know it was frustrating at times, when there were what felt like constant delays and hair-splitting details and roadblocks when the search was on for the perfect match. I am thrilled to let you all know that baby Bodie just received his miracle gift, and mom Erin and dad Parker say their little man has immediately responded in so many positive ways!

A week ago today, while Erin was still in the hospital after an appendicitis attack, complete with scary complications, she got word that a family the Phillips did not even know had lost their 14-year-old son to a freak golf cart accident. That boys’ heartbroken parents chose to bless other families with their beautiful boy’s organs. There was a phone conversation between the two sets of parents, and Brodie found his perfect miracle match. The Phillips family had been hoping and praying for a partial living donation. This whole liver, complete with vasculature and biliary tree, was even better.

Bodie’s wait was finally over. He was wheeled into surgery at Stanford alongside the boy who was his hero, who will now live in Bodie and all the other kids he helped. Bodie has rebounded like the little rockstar he is, and was extubated and weaned off of sedation over the weekend. Momma Erin reports that they can already see a visible change in their baby boy, who’ll turn 1 in September. “His jaundice is almost completely gone, and his skin and eyes look brand new,” she said. “He truly looks like a different kid.”

I just wanted to pass along this amazing news, and thank you all again…from this sweet young family and from me, too…for praying for this miracle for the Phillips family. Let’s not forget the family of the boy who gave Bodie and others the gift of life. I know the Phillips family never will.