The Gift of Life: Part Two - WMBB News 13 - The Panhandle's News Leader

After the death of their youngest son the Smith family's new greatest fear is the death of Taylor's memory. The fear of their son being forgotten. Today, that fear is overcome as he lives on through organ donation.

"Someone asked me about you today.

 It's been so long since anyone has done that it felt so good to talk about you.

To share my memories of you.

To simply say your name out loud," said Laura Smith.

Laura reads a poem given to her after the death of her youngest son. She says the words capture her deepest fears.

"She said she never realized the pain would last this long.

She apologized for not asking sooner.

I told her 'thanks for asking'

I don't know if it was curiosity or concern that made her ask.

But I told her, 'please do it again sometime… sometime soon,'" said Laura.

15 year old Taylor Smith was killed by a drunk driver in October of 2009.

"I'm just afraid that some day I might stop hearing his voice in my head and hearing his laugh and seeing him smile. That's more scary to me than anything else," said Shawn Smith, Taylor's father.

After the accident Taylor's parents and brother faced the reality that he would not survive, but a decision welcomed them with renewed hope.

"When we learned that we would have to make the decision on whether we wanted to donate his organs or not... Shawn and Ryan had no hesitation at all. They knew Taylor would want to do it," said Laura.  

"If the roles were reversed," said Shawn. "I would hope that somebody would do the same thing for us if one of our kids were sick."

But Laura's limited knowledge of organ donation created hesitation and questions.

"But once I found out how the process worked and how caring and respectful they were of the donor that made me feel more comfortable about doing it," said Laura.

"There are positives, there just doesn't seem like it in those early hours," said Christina Clavijo, an organ procurement specialist with LifeQuest.  

Coordinators like Clavijo charge themselves with bringing those positives to light.

"It's a horrible ugly thing that has happened and yet it can actually be a huge part of their healing down the road," said Clavijo. "Something beautiful has come from something that's a horrible tragedy."

"I guess once I learned that he was going to be an organ donor I just wanted everything to go ok," said Laura. "Since I knew I was losing my son I wanted somebody else to be able to gain something from it."

As a result of his parents consent Taylor saved the lives of three women by donating his organs.

"Taylor gave life to those people, but they also gave a little bit of their lives to us now. We have been rewarded by his gift also and I know that he's a hero to them. He is also a hero to us," said Laura.

In Part three of the Gift of Life series a look into the life of the three women Taylor saved and how their lives have been changed forever.