2016 Trevin Reddick

Trevin Reddick_LifeAlliance Organ RecoveryTREVIN REDDICK

Organ Donor

Age 19 ~ Miami, Fl

Donated on 11/02/2011

at Jackson Memorial Hospital

Honored by surgery.med.miami.edu/laora

Growing up, Trevin was the boy in the neighborhood that everyone wanted to hang out with. He was such a gentle and kind soul.  His mother knew he was special from the moment he was born.  When he passed away on October 31, 2011, it changed his mother, Renee’s, life forever.  She agreed to donation without really understanding the impact it would have on her. When Renee received a letter stating Trevin’s organs were used to save four people’s lives, Renee knew she had done the right thing.  Since then, she has been committed to telling her son’s story and advocating for donation. “It’s bittersweet,” Renee said.  “I am honored to be a donor’s mom”.

Trevin’s Story

I always knew there was something extra special about Trevin. When he was born, Trevin had skin pigmentation. From his waist to his thighs, split straight down the middle, he was two-toned. His left side was bright-skinned and his right side was medium-brown. Whenever I took him to doctors, I was asked the same questions, “What happened, and was he burned?” Each time I went to a different doctor, I had to explain, it was his birthmark.

Growing up, Trevin was the boy in the neighborhood that everyone wanted to hang out with. He was such a gentle and kind soul. Trevin received his high-school diploma from Miami Central Senior High School in Miami, FL, June 2010. On October 17, 2011, at the age of 19, Trevin was shot in the head after leaving a friend’s house. He passed away on October 31, 2011, and it changed the course of me and my family’s life, in more ways than one.

Organ donation was never a topic of discussion in our home. I remember hearing about it when I was much younger, but it was not something I wanted to face at that time, so whenever anyone approached me, I avoided the conversation and I did that up until Trevin was pronounced dead. When my husband and I were asked if we wanted to donate Trevin’s organs, and after receiving his blessings and taking a few deep breaths, I thought to myself, “What would Trevin want me to do?”  Because he was such a sweet, kind, and giving soul, I knew he would have wanted us to say yes.

To be very honest, at that moment I did not get any satisfaction out of agreeing to donate his organs, it was more so to get rid of the representative.  It wasn’t until approximately a month or so after saying yes to donating his organs, my family and I received some form of satisfaction. I received a letter from Life Alliance Recovery Agency that reads in part: “We were able to recover four organs for transplant. This act of kindness has saved the lives of four people who were selected from the national patient waiting list for organ transplant… Furthermore, other organs were used for biomedical research which will assist in the development of new treatments and promote medical advancement. These efforts can lead to improving the quality of life for people as well as saving many others…” Wow! I knew then, there was more for me to do.

Since then, I attend workshops and events sharing our story and inspire others to get involved. I am deeply touched by this great cause; and being associated with this wonderful community of people, I must admit, is definitely bittersweet. However, I am honored to be a Donor’s Mom.