Bill Dawson's daughter Reneé died in a car crash on January 12, 2001 while driving home from high school. Reneé became a tissue donor and changed the lives of over 60 people. Bill's personal connection to transplantation is not limited to his daughter, as his sister Cecilia and sister-in-law Terri both became donors when they died, and his brother-in-law Bob is on a transplant waiting list.

Bill and Renée's Story

On January 12, 2001, while driving home from high school with her boyfriend, 17-year old Renée Eleonor Dawson died in a car accident. She had placed the pink organ donor dot on her driver’s license a few years earlier; so her parents, Rae and Bill Dawson, knew what to do on that tragic night. Renée Dawson’s gift changed the lives of more than 60 people and their families. Her parents continue to save the lives of countless more via the Renée Eleanor Dawson Foundation, which they founded to promote the importance of eye, organ and tissue donation and transplantation; and traffic safety education.

“Rae and I know we can’t change the past and we can’t bring Renée back. But, we can share all of our resulting positive experiences with as many people as possible,” says Bill Dawson.

Renée’s right knee tissue went to a girl named Teresa. Her corneas went to poeple in New York and San Diego. An 11-year old girl in Maine received a heart valve. Her ankles were transplanted into two people.

“Since Renée died, we have come to know donors, recipients, people on waiting lists, people who died waiting, transplant surgeons, nurses and all types of health care workers. We have learned so much from all of them and we are anxious to spread the message of the importance of organ donation,” adds Bill.

Five months after Renée’s death, Matt Rickard, an avid surfer and college student at UC Santa Barbara, who had received her left knee tissue, attended Renée’s graduation from Valley Center High School and accepted her diploma on her behalf. A year following Renée’s death, Matt and his parents, Bill and Rae, UC San Diego Hospital transplant surgeon Dr. Bill Bugbee, and Lifesharing transplant coordinator Sandra Aquino ran the last mile of the San Diego Marathon in Renée’s memory.

The Dawsons’ personal experience with organ donation is not limited to Renée. Both Bill’s sister Cecilia, and Rae’s sister Terri, became donors when they died; and Bill’s brother-in-law, Bob, is on a transplant waiting list.

Through the Foundation, the Dawsons have made over 150 presentations to more than 25,000 people throughout San Diego at health and street fairs, service clubs, high schools, sporting events, and the media. Part of the presentation now includes Renee’s mangled car, which Bill hauls in a special trailer covered with organ transplant and driving safety information. Bill is also the founding chairman of the Lifesharing Volunteer Action Committee (the San Diego organ recovery agency) and volunteers on behalf of the San Diego Eye Bank.

In recognition of their passionate and tireless dedication, the Dawsons carried the Team Southern California flag in the opening ceremonies of the 2002 U.S. Transplant Games; Renée was featured on the cover of Communiqué, the National Kidney Foundation newsletter (Spring 2003); and Rae and Bill accepted the National Donor Medal on behalf of cornea donors at the 2005 National Donor Recognition Ceremony in Washington, DC.

In addition, Bill was appointed to the University of California San Diego advisory board for Lifesharing and received the first annual Lifesharing “Champions Award” and a tribute from the Eye Bank Association of America.

“These things, along with many others, we do in honor of the gifts given by our daughter and by Cecilia and Terri,” says Bill. “Our job now is to tell their stories and to help others to understand how donation and transplantation positively impact everyone around us in ways we are learning about every day.”