Why the Be A Hero Become A Donor Foundation was formed:

In the words of Evan's Mom....
When I went to Minnesota with Evan on June 11, 2007, we were on the "Fight for Evan, Stop ALD" campaign.  When we had to fly home without him on November 3, 2007, his and his twin sister Alaina's 10th birthday, I didn't know what the hell kind of campaign I was on.  I honestly didn't know how I would continue on in this life, having no desire to, but I knowing I had to for my husband, three other children, as well as my family and friends who needed me to. As the weeks went by as I laid on my side of the bed in a fog, with my computer on my lap, I decided that I had to do something "AMAZING" because of my vibrant, fun-loving son Evan. That "amazing" thing was going to be "Saving Lives in his Honor", and initially it was only going to be raising awareness to the National Marrow Donor Program. This was an obvious choice because without Evan's two cord blood donors, we had NO HOPE at all, as well as the dozens of friends we met on the pediatric transplant floor at the University of Minnesota fighting for their lives too. Not only was I going to honor my ALD community, which unfortunately isn't as rare as we would like it to be, but I could honor the 70 plus different diseases that are treatable and cured by bone marrow and stem cell transplants.  Something that would give patients and families HOPE worldwide. 

But then I said, "Hey, what about the dozens and dozens of blood products that Evan needed to keep him alive during transplant".  And that was when I knew, that if I was going to educate and raise awareness about donation in one capacity, (really two, both marrow and cord blood), I had the ability to talk about all of them.  Of course that brought me to the thought of that "pink donor dot" (California) that I have had on my driver's license since I was 16 years old, way back in 1979.  I knew back then that I had the ability to "live and then give" through organ, tissue, and eye donation, but didn't know it would come full circle in our journey with Evan.

This is where two-year-old Dominik Lawson, who was in dire need of a kidney, comes into the picture. 
Watch Dom's Story

Dominik and his family were residents at the Ronald McDonald house where we had an apartment too.  Our 20 year old Mary (as well as the rest of the family when they were in town), would sleep at the Ronald each night, as I stayed with Evan in the hospital.  She met dozens of families, like ours, who were fighting for the lives of their children too. And that is where Mary met Dom.
Watch Mary and Dom's Story

This is where we say "Evan is Amazing".  Without our "Fight for Evan", without our coming to Minnesota to try to save our own son's life, we would never have had the opportunity to provide life to Dominik.

Hence, the Be A Hero Become A Donor Foundation began, with the mission of "givng HOPE to patients and families in need" worldwide.

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