2019 Adam Wasielewski

Name:                                     Adam Wasielewski

Type of Donation:             Tissue and cornea donor

Age and Location:             Age 6 – Delaware, OH

Donation Date:                   6/6/2010

Sponsor:                                Honored by Lifeline of Ohio

ADAM’S STORY

Adam Wasielewski was all boy!  He was the first to climb a tree — and then jump! He was riding a two-wheeler and skateboarding at three years of age.  At four, he was building ramps for his bike and skateboards. By the age of six, his boundless energy was channeled into coach-pitch baseball, swimming, and soccer.  But his true athletic love bloomed on the golf course.  He played at least once a week and called Oakhaven Golf Club in Delaware, Ohio “his course.”

Adam passed away on June 6, 2010 from complications suffered after a car accident while on his way to kindergarten.  The active, curious, affectionate boy was only six years old, but his legacy of laughter, love and living each day to the fullest continues.

The Wasielewski family – including his parents, Chris and Marcia, and big sister, Emma — donated tissue after Adam’s death.  It’s a choice his family says they know he would have wanted.

Marcia says she and her husband were always registered donors, so it wasn’t a hard decision, just the next step in the process. The family believes it was the best gift they could have given to keep Adam’s spirit living on.

His spirit continues in other ways too.  Adam was fascinated by the military and loved playing with his little Army men. While Adam never got the chance to be a soldier himself, each year “Adam’s Army” marches in his honor at Lifeline of Ohio’s Dash for Donation. Family, friends and classmates gather to remember him and advocate for donation.  Marcia says it is also special that the Dash annually falls on or around Adam’s July birthday.

The family also hosts a golf outing at “his course,” where a memorial bench sits at the first tee, and staffers remember Adam’s unbridled enthusiasm for the sport. Proceeds of the outing support a scholarship awarded to a local graduating senior, as well as a sponsorship for Adam’s baseball team.

Adam’s spirit truly lives on and his gifts keep on giving—not only to the recipients of his corneas, heart values and tissue but to his family, friends, community and strangers.