Kelly Rochelle

When Kelly was a pre-teen, she told her mother that she was an organ donor. In fact, it is a conversation that Kelly had with almost everyone she met. When she was old enough for a driver license, she enrolled on the registry and proudly displayed the stamp on her license.

In October 2008, she repeated that sentiment to her mother.

“Don’t forget,” Kelly said, “if anything ever happens to me, I’m an organ donor.”

A few weeks later, Kelly’s mother, Mary Ellen, would repeat those same words to a trauma surgeon at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital. Kelly died at age 22 from injuries sustained in a car accident. Her gifts saved the lives of five others and provided sight to a sixth.