(PHOTOS) Annual Donor Dash honors organ donor superheroes

CASPER, Wyo. — On Saturday, roughly 500 people took part in the annual Donor Dash 5K, a run that raises awareness for the importance of organ donation and honors those who gave of themselves after death.

Each person who donates organs is able to benefit dozens of lives, said Mary Schroer, community relations coordinator of the Wyoming Donor Alliance.

“One person checking the box [to be an organ donor] could heal up to 75 people through tissue donation and save up to eight people from organ donation,” Schroer said. “We rattle those stats off pretty quickly, but that’s eight human lives. Eight living, breathing, smiling people living their best lives who otherwise wouldn’t be able to. … The impact is really incredible.”

There are roughly 1,300 people on a waitlist for a donation in Donor Alliance’s region, Schroer said. Donor Alliance facilitates organ donations for Colorado and most of Wyoming, but maintains the organ donation registry for the entirety of the Equality State.

Organs that can be donated include the heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and intestines, as well as tissues like the cornea, skin, valves, bone, ligaments and more.

In Wyoming, approximately 63% of people with a state ID are registered organ donors, one of the highest rates in the country.

One of the organ donors celebrated and remembered at Saturday’s event was Jace Ferre, a young Casperite who tragically lost his life in 2018 at the age of seven.

“Jace was the most kind-hearted little boy,” mother Ashlee Ferre said. “He was that kid who sat next to you at the lunch table if you were alone. So I knew that if my son could make this choice himself, he would have.”

Ferre said Jace’s heart saved two children’s lives, his kidneys saved two adults’ lives and his eyes helped preserve another person’s eyesight.

For Ferre, knowing that Jace lives on in those he saved helps bring some degree of comfort and solace. She added that she hopes to one day meet some of the people saved through his organ donations.

And for those who knew Jace, his ability to save lives has turned him into a true superhero.

“My youngest, who was five at the time, was in counselling and he was asked if he liked superheroes. He just nodded his head,” Ferre recalled. “Then she asked who his favorite superhero is, and without missing a beat he said, ‘My brother.’

“Knowing that his brother was able to save lives helped his grieving process so much. And it’s helped mine knowing that it’s eased his mind.”