Tyler Dean Lewellen was a free spirited, compassionate young man. Just before his 16th birthday, Tyler informed his parents that he wanted to be an organ donor. A few months later, Tyler sustained a traumatic brain injury while playing football. He died a few days later. His organ donation saved the lives of five people, while his tissue and corneas enhanced the lives countless others.

Tyler's Story

Tyler Dean Lewellen was a wonderful free spirit with a zest for life and adventure; always smiling or joking, trying to make others laugh; the kind of kid that lit up a room when he entered it. Tyler was an amazing mixture of mischief, wisdom, humor and compassion. Even as a small child Tyler looked out for others. In elementary school he packed two lunches so he could share with kids that sometimes went without, he rallied his friends to join in the 'Light the Night' Leukemia Walk in support of his cousin Cynthia, regularly dropped by the special education classroom to check on his cousin Aidan who has Autism and often stepped in to defend other students if he saw they were being bullied.

A few weeks before his birthday, Tyler came into the room as we were discussing the pink dot on our drivers' licenses. He listened for a bit, asked a few questions and then said, 'I want to do that! Where do I sign up'?

Little did we know how soon that wish would be fulfilled. A few months later, football practices began and Tyler was determined not to spend another year standing on the sidelines. According to his coaches, he became a true 'student of the game'. He worked out and trained harder, took better care of his body and always pumped up his teammates by bringing positive attitude to the field. Tyler was the picture of a healthy, high school athlete and had improved his game enough to make both JV and Varsity teams.

On August 22, 2013, Tyler was pumped and ready for a three way scrimmage game. We are told that he played the best game of his life. He kept the opposing team from scoring in the last play of the set, celebrated with his teammates, got a fist bump from the coach and jogged off the field with the other players. But shortly after he reached the sidelines, he asked a teammate for some pain reliever. Before anyone could even react, Tyler slid to the ground, experienced a series of seizures and slipped into a coma.

A CT scan determined Tyler had suffered a Traumatic Brain Injury and would need emergency surgery to relieve swelling of his brain. He made it through the surgery, but remained in a coma. When we were asked if we would consider consenting for Tyler to be a donor if he did not improve, there was no hesitation. The decision would have been the same either way, but knowing it was what Ty wanted, left no room for doubts. Sadly, Tyler succumbed to his injuries five days later and on August 31, gave his final gift to five strangers. He was 16.

It was never determined at what point of the game Tyler received his injury. A few days after his accident, we found an unfinished tweet on his IPod that read, 'I'm ready for today'.