James "Jimmy" Edward Ginter was a very loving, outgoing and giving person. He enjoyed football and golf, but most of all he loved to make people laugh. He was very active in his church youth group, where he spent most of his time. After one of these meetings, at the age of 18, he had a fatal car accident. Jimmy had received his driver's license just six months earlier and had signed as an organ donor. Thanks to his gift of corneas and tissue, Jimmy has been able to help heal more than 50 people.

Jimmy's Story

James "Jimmy" Edward Ginter was a very outgoing teenager who loved his family and friends, as well as playing golf and football. He was very active in his church youth group, where he spent most of his time. On May 13, 1996, he took his younger step-brother Sean, with whom he was best friends, to his first class with the youth group.

Later, after dropping Sean off at his mother's house, Jimmy was driving back to his home when he over-compensated a curve and hit a tree. Jimmy was 18 and had only had his license for six months. Until then, his friends and family had driven him where he needed to go. His mother, Sallie, would even pick him up at 2am after his shift at McDonald's, figuring the later he started driving the better.

After getting his license, Jimmy told his mother that he had signed the back of his driver's license to be an organ donor. "I asked him, 'Are you sure?' He told me that he wasn't going to need them, and if it would help someone else, go for it," remembered Sallie.

According to Sallie, Jimmy's decision made everything so much easier for her. He was her only child, and she felt she honored that he wanted to help others in this way.

"Now many children in the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh area are living better lives with his donation of tissue, and two people in Kentucky have sight with the donation of his corneas," affirmed Sallie. "Jimmy lives on by putting smiles on people's faces."