Family, friends and classmates payed tribute to Grant Roberson Friday night by emphasizing that he will live on every day, not just in memories, but in the lives of five recipients who were fortunate enough to receive the 17-year-old’s organs.
Roberson perished last October from injuries sustained in a car accident. He was a junior at Collierville High School.
Last week, during a baseball game between Collierville and Houston High School, Roberson’s family brought attention to a cause “near and dear” to them.
Anna Lopez watches as her son, Andrew, throws out the first pitch Friday night before the Collierville vs. Houston varsity baseball game.
Before the game, a tribute highlighting the significance of organ donation and penned by his mother, Anna Lopez, was read aloud to those in attendance.
“Six months ago, my family’s life changed forever,” read the game announcer.
The tribute spoke of a “great kid,” the oldest of three brothers, with a “bigger than life personality and even bigger heart.”
Roberson loved sports and was a diehard Ole Miss fan that rarely missed a game.
“You often hear stories of families who receive donated organs,” read the announcer over the PA system, “but not as much as from the families who make the decision to donate. We suffered the ultimate loss but decided something good needed to come out of our pain.
“Organ donation is a hard decision when you are in the middle of a time that seems so unfair,” the tribute continued. “Making that decision to donate Grant’s organs was not an easy choice but I know in my heart that we made the right choice. Grant lives on, every day, in the lives of five recipients and their families. We chose life for them.
“The big heart I spoke about earlier beats on in a 14-year-old girl in Georgia. If I could see her today I would tell her, ‘I hope you can keep up with that heart. It has a lot to give.’”
