2019 Erik Fitzpatrick

Name:                                     Erik Fitzpatrick

Type of Donation:             Tissue donor

Age and Location:             Age 35 – Long Beach, CA

Donation Date:                   5/19/2010

Sponsor:                                Honored by OneLegacy

ERIK’S STORY

Erik Allen Fitzpatrick loved life and loved people.  His wife, family and wide circle of friends loved him for who he was: a caring, compassionate soul who would do anything for anyone.  Erik was also known as a prankster who would plot to carry out creative practical jokes on his amused friends.

After graduation from college, Erik worked with recovering drug addicts and in his spare time tutored children and volunteered for a variety of social causes.  He wanted to help the lives of people who are under served in our society and felt the best way to do that was by getting a law degree.  So, in his early 30s he decided to go to law school.  In May 2010, Erik was excited about the prospect of graduating from law school the next year.  He was a few days short of going to New Orleans for a summer internship when he was tragically killed in an accident.

Erik was a man who lived by his principles and whose most important goal in this world was to help others.  He would not kill an insect in his house because it was against his moral code.  He was a vegetarian from the age of 13 and would not wear any clothing made of animal parts.  Erik was a consistent blood donor and was on the bone marrow registry.  He even had himself tested to become a living kidney donor to a complete stranger, but was ultimately denied because of an excessive amount of albumin.  Though Erik was extremely disappointed that he could not be a kidney donor, he was adamant that upon his death, he wanted all of his organs and tissues donated and used to help others.  Erik’s legacy lives on in the way he lived his life and in the inspiration he provided to others.