2019 Raphael Skinner Jr.

Name:                                     Raphael Skinner Jr.

Type of Donation:             Tissue donor

Age and Location:             Age 12 – Mayflower, AR

Donation Date:                   5/8/2014

Sponsor:                                Honored by CryoLife, Inc.

RAPHAEL’S STORY

Raphael Tremaynes Skinner, Jr. was a loving son, brother and friend who liked to cook breakfast for his younger siblings.  He loved sports, always acting as a dedicated team player.  He was the team’s quarterback – “The Man!”  He loved his church—New Life—and especially enjoyed working in the church’s garden. He attended daily, helping others and learning about Christ.  It was there, in the Arkansas Dream Center, that he was baptized.  In second grade, he wrote a short story about coming back as a haunted house to scare bad people.  It was then his mother showed him the story in the Bible of Raphael the archangel.  Raphael said that it would be him, as was told in the Bible story, that would come back with a golden trumpet someday to ring in a new world.

He was a little comedian, outspoken and funny, and loved to make his family and friends laugh.  This 12-year-old boy stood up to bullies in his school, protecting those that could not stand up for themselves. Like any other kid, he liked to have fun!  He liked to skate and ride four-wheelers, loved doing back flips and loved climbing Pinnacle, an Arkansas mountain.  He loved to draw, and he loved to dance.

The rhythm of Raphael’s life was helping others through his bravery, laughter, dancing, and generosity. The rhythm of his heart continues in the two recipients of his heart valves in California and Pennsylvania, in the numerous bone and soft tissue recipients around the country, and in the hearts and minds of his family and friends who honor him each year on the anniversary of his donation through a Celebration of Life and Donation.  Raphael Tremaynes Skinner, Jr. will truly embody the Donate Life Rose Parade theme this year, Rhythm of the Heart, and his mom and siblings will be watching with joy, gratitude, and a passion for donation as his Floragraph inspires parade watchers around the country and the world.