Diana Couch will be in attendance at the New Year’s Day Tournament of Roses Parade, part of the annual Rose Bowl festivities in Pasadena, Calif.
While she grew up in the Los Angeles area and attended the parade as a child, the trip is less about retracing her steps as it is carrying on the legacy of her daughter.
On Jan. 22, 1999, Linda Couch left a basketball game at Gateway High School, headed to a fast-food restaurant across U.S. Highway 192, when she was struck by a car that likely ran the red light. She died three days later at the age of 15.
Prior to that, Linda told her parents she wished to be an organ donor. Her heart, liver, kidneys, corneas and other organs would help four other people across the Eastern U.S. live healthier, better lives.
“That’s four lives directly impacted, but when you consider their friends and families, the impact goes way beyond that,” Diana said. “It gave those families their miracle.
“When she came to me before that and talked about being an organ donor, I was floored that someone of that age would consider that.”
Ever since, Diana has been a volunteer and advocate for organ and tissue donation, working with organizations like Donate Life (www.donatelife.org) and OurLegacy (www.ourlegacyfl.org), which honor donors whose life-saving gifts leave a legacy of caring for others.
A floragraph that was dedicated to Linda in Kissimmee’s Lakefront Park in October adjacent to the Berlinsky House, and it will be included, along with others, in the DonateLife float at the parade. Those who have received organ donations and their families will ride on the float.
Diana will leave for California on Tuesday and participate in associated events such as a rose dedication, where selected families from across the nation will each add a rose to the float Nov. 31 as it’s readied for the Jan. 1 parade.
Those images of organ donors from throughout the country will be seen by those attending in-person, like Diana, and a nationwide television audience on New Year’s Day morning.
And when she returns to Kissimmee, her home of 40 years, she’ll continue creating awareness for making the simple choice to become an organ and tissue donor. The need is great, she said, because people, thanks to medical advances, are living longer on transplant lists, so the lists get longer.
Registering is as simple as checking a box when renewing a driver’s license, or going to DonateLifeFlorida.org and filling out a few forms.
“When you make this decision, make your family aware of it,” Diana said. “That way, people can continue on creating these ‘good news’ stories of impacting others’ lives.
