2017 Danny Mateik

DANIEL “DANNY” MATEIK

Organ Donor

Age 24 ~ Torrance, CA

Donated on 6/23/09

Honored by OneLegacy.org

Daniel “Danny” George Mateik III was a kind soul and a giver. He was a self-taught guitar and bass player, awesome skateboarder and an international black belt in Tae Kwon Do. Danny even once sailed a Polynesian voyaging catamaran for his final exam at the Ocean Learning Academy in Hawai’i. At the age of 24, God decided to take him to heaven. He was able to save 4 lives. Nobody in the family could believe what had happened, but Donate Life was there to explain the process. He was able to donate his heart, liver, and both kidneys. Danny’s family now gives back by volunteering to decorate the Donate Life Rose Parade Float on December 26^th every year to celebrate his birthday. As Danny surfs the waves of heaven, his heart will continue to beat on this earth.

Daniel’s Story

Daniel George Mateik III was born on December 26, 1984 in Torrance, CA. He was a Navy brat and lived all over the world including, Mississippi, Scotland, Puerto Rico and Hawai’i. He spent the last 8 years of life in Hawai’i doing what he loved, surfing. Danny surfed the coasts from California to Bali to Puerto Rico to Hawai’i to Senegal. Besides surfing, he was also a self-taught guitar/bass player, awesome skateboarder and an international black belt in Tae Kwon Do.

Danny was a kind soul and a giver. At the young age of 24, God decided to take him to heaven. Sadly, he died of a horrible epidemic, heroin overdose. Nobody in the family could believe what had happened to us. Donate Life approached our family and we all knew in our hearts that donating his organs would have been in his wishes. Donate Life was there for us with love, care, and support. They were there to explain the process and helped us through his death. Danny’s donations were able to save four lives. While we would have done anything to prevent our loss of Danny, our loss had given four other families hope. He was able to donate his heart, liver, and both kidneys. Donate Life had literally created his legacy that day.

After everything OneLegacy had done for us, we knew we had to give back. Our family has made it a priority to volunteer in the Donate Life community. Losing Danny has been a constant healing process and volunteering is a way to feel connected to him again. The days we volunteer are dedicated to Danny and all the other amazing people that have decided to give life to those in need. We have volunteered to decorate the Donate Life Rose Parade Float on December 26^th every year to celebrate his birthday. Volunteering to decorate the Donate Life float is one of the most inspiring and advancing experiences. It has allowed us to connect to the community. It’s a chance to share and exchange stories with other donor families and transplant recipients, while helping to create something beautiful. Additionally, every year we have dedicated a rose to Danny on the float. Some years the rose represented our grief and other years it represented our love for Danny. Each year we place a rose it is another chance to inspire others nationwide to save lives by becoming a donor.

The 2017 Donate Life Rose Parade float, Teammates in Life, displays a spectacular Polynesian catamaran. Danny studied in Ocean Learning Academy in Hawai’i and for his final 1½ -month exam, he sailed a Polynesian voyaging catamaran, the Hokule’a, from Kau to Hanalei. As Danny surfs the waves of heaven, his heart will continue to beat on this earth.