It’s 16 years since that day. Seattle’s Mardi Gras riots in 2001. A 20-year-old man came to the rescue of a woman.
“Instincts just took over,” said Cameron Langridge, the brother of the Good Samaritan.
Kris Kime was trying to save someone he didn’t even know, and he was beaten to the death by someone in the crowd.
Kim Kime Parks lost a son.
“I’m so proud of him, and I know he’s probably going, ‘Oh God, there goes mom talking about me again,'” Kime Parks said.
What she’s talking about is her son Kris’ legacy and gifts of life.
It started with a conversation before that fateful night. Kime had told his mom he wanted to be an organ donor and so he made sure it said so on his license. And so when Kime was killed, his organs went to others.
“The people who received his organs and received the bones and tissues; you look at it, and all those people are the people he directly impacted,” says Langridge.
Ray Page received Kime’s right kidney.
“Kidney’s working perfect,” he said. “If the rest of the body were working as good I’d be in great shape.”
The other kidney recipient, Jessie Bettes, had her life was extended six years, and as a result, she got to go to her daughter’s wedding. And there’s the man with Kime’s heart. The heart of a hero – Larry Levinson.
“I just ran to him and hugged him so hard and listened to his heart and ‘Oh my God, it’s Kris. It’s Kris,’” Kime Parks said of the first time she met Levinson.
It was all because of a young man who left behind something no one could take from him, even when someone took his life. It’s the gift to help others live.
For information about organ donations visit LifeCenter Northwest online at www.lcnw.org
