'We hope to inspire others,' YouTube star Brittani Boren Leach says after donating infant son's organs
A YouTube personality is sharing with her hundreds of thousands of followers how her 3-month-old son is helping to save other kids' lives after the baby tragically passed away this week.
Brittani Boren Leach, of San Antonio, Texas, shares on YouTube her daily life as a mom to four boys and one stepdaughter.
On Christmas Day, the 29-year-old found her youngest son, Crew, had stopped breathing during a nap at a relative's house.
"I don’t have any words right now, other than to desperately ask for your prayers," Leach wrote on Instagram. "Not the kind that you say 'I’m praying for you' and don’t, but the kind where you fall on your knees and beg God for a miracle."
In Instagram posts over the next several days, Leach shared photos of Crew in the hospital and connected to machines monitoring his health.
Leach told "Good Morning America" in a statement Wednesday that doctors later determined Crew had "sustained brain injuries that were catastrophic and irreparable. "
"After careful thought and many prayers, we made the difficult decision to donate his healthy organs to children in need," Leach said in the statement. "Our hearts are shattered, but we find solace in the hope that other children may live, because of Crew."
"Through this experience we have learned that the list of patients in need of an organ transplant greatly exceeds donor availability," she wrote. "In light of this deficit, we hope to inspire others to make the life saving decision to become an organ donor."
"We want to thank the first responders, doctors and nurses who provided loving care to Crew in the final days and hours of his life," Leach added, noting the family is also "profoundly thankful for the outpouring of love and support our family has received during the most difficult time of our lives."
Methodist Children's Hospital, the San Antonio hospital where Crew was treated, shared a video Monday of an emotional ceremony marking the donation of Crew's organs.
Hospital employees raised a Donate Life flag on the flagpole outside the hospital as Crew's family and hospital staff watched.
"For every [organ] donor a Donate Life flag is raised in their honor for providing the ultimate gift of life," Methodist Children's explains in the video. "Our thoughts and prayers are with this courageous family."
There were more than 113,000 candidates for transplant on the U.S. national waiting list as of July, the most recent data available. Included in that number are almost 2,000 children waiting for a transplant, according to OrganDonor.gov, the U.S. government's organ donation website.
