'Bachelorette' star Tyler Cameron shares moving video of late mother to raise awareness about organ donation
Tyler Cameron is finding the silver lining in the wake of his mother's death.
"What you are watching is our family saying our final goodbyes to our mother," the 27-year-old wrote alongside an emotional Instagram video showing him and other relatives doing a "walk of honor" as she was being wheeled to the operating room for a surgery to donate her organs. This, as he pointed out, was the "final gift on this earth" she was able to give.
Cameron's mom, Andrea, died on Feb. 27. Now, the "Bachelorette" star is crediting Donate Life America -- a nonprofit dedicated to saving lives through organ, eye and tissue donation -- for helping his family get through this tough time.
"We lost our rock, our nucleus, and the one who gave us a home," he added. "Our mother was the ultimate servant. She gave us her all until she had nothing more she could give. So we thought. Our mother gave the ultimate gift when she passed away. She was able to give more life."
In the end, Andrea donated her liver and "gave someone another opportunity," he said.
Cameron shared some statistics from the Health Resources & Services Administration that said 95% of U.S. adults support organ donation but only 58% are donors.
"This process helped our family find a positive light in a very dark time," he concluded. "Our mother now lives on through me and my brothers but also to the man she was able to give more life to. My mom would do anything to impact the world in a positive way and these are her final ways of doing it. Love you forever momma ❤️."
According to the HRSA, there are more than 113,000 people on the national transplant waiting list and 20 people are dying each day waiting for a transplant. Moreover, another person is added to the waiting list every 10 minutes.
Hannah Brown, the woman whose heart Cameron was competing to win on "The Bachelorette," couldn't help but praise him, writing: "Your momma would be really proud of you and how you are honoring her life with the platform you have."
