2019 Hunter Weiss

Name:                                     Hunter Weiss

Type of Donation:             Cornea donor

Age and Location:             Age 20– Sparks, NV

Donation Date:                   12/31/2017

Sponsor:                                Honored by Nevada Donor Network

HUNTER’S STORY

Hunter Alexander Weiss was born June 30, 1997. He was the second twin born that day, and arrived two months early. Spending 41 days in the NICU with his twin brother, we knew he would be special. As time went on, it was obvious that he was going to have red hair and amazing teal eyes. His personality soon came to follow that of a redhead. He was pretty stubborn. But through it all, you always knew he had a good heart. He was passionate about everything, about life. As time went on, his artistic side started coming out. Although he was quite the artist, he did not see it in himself. Then he became interested in music. He absolutely loved music, and wanted to make a career of it somehow. He always had headphones and then earbuds on his head with the music turned up, much to the chagrin of his parents.

Hunter loved travelling and couldn’t wait until he turned 21 and could fly to Europe and check out other countries. He was fascinated about how things worked, always researching whatever would come up in any conversation. When he was 14, he had a seizure one morning before school. Nothing like that had ever happened before. He was taken to the hospital, where it was determined that there was some kind of growth on the left side of his brain. He was later transported to Oakland’s Children’s Hospital, where he eventually had surgery and it was discovered that there was a cavernous malformation that had been oozing, which caused the seizure. He stayed at the hospital for a month. Just about every day when he would go for a walk, he would look at all of the other ill children and say “I feel so sad for all these kids, because I know I’m going to get to go home, and they probably won’t”. He would never forget his experience at the hospital. Once he recovered, he was constantly researching supplements to strengthen his brain. We learned so much from his research. He always wanted to help others. He always had a big hug and a smile for everyone.

Hunter eventually discovered a musical artist that he absolutely fell in love with. He watched him rise up to fame from nothing, and cried at times when he realized how big his favorite artist was becoming. His motto was a line from one of the artist’s songs “Beautiful Creatures”, which says “…we are all beautiful creatures,” because he believed we all were. It was not surprising that Hunter had registered to be a donor, and ultimately gave the gift of sight to two people, so they can see the beauty in this world. He truly loved his family and his friends, and especially his twin brother. He would do anything for them. He was a beautiful creature!