Celebration family honors son’s life-saving organ donation through tribute

  • The owners of Celebration Sanitation are honoring its son Dylan Rowe, who died suddenly a year ago but saved other lives as an organ donor. The truck encourages people to sign up as an organ donor. PHOTO/ADVENTHEALTH CELEBRATION
    The owners of Celebration Sanitation are honoring its son Dylan Rowe, who died suddenly a year ago but saved other lives as an organ donor. The truck encourages people to sign up as an organ donor. PHOTO/ADVENTHEALTH CELEBRATION

While the Lee family of Celebration may have lost their son in a tragic accident a year ago, but that accident gave life to others, as Dylan Rowe was an organ donor.

The Lees, owners of Celebration Sanitation, have joined Central Florida’s Organ Procurement Organization, OurLegacy, in honoring the gift of life through organ, eye and tissue donation. The company’s newest service truck now carries a wrap with messaging to honor Dylan, who was an organ donation, to inspire and encourage others in the community to register to become organ donors. The family dedicated the new truck on Thursday.

Rowe, 27, died on Oct. 31, 2021, but he was able to save the lives of three people through the donation of two kidneys and his liver.

According to DonateLifeFlorida. org, an organ donor has the power to save eight lives through organ donation, provide two people new sight through cornea donation and provide healing and mobility to 75 more through tissue donation.

“I just know we have to get the word out, to save other people,” said Tammy Lee, Dylan’s mother. “When I got the letter from the recipient, it just confirmed what I’m doing to spread the word to be a donor, to save other people’s lives.” The Celebration Sanitation service truck, similar to one on which Dylan once worked, is wrapped with a message to raise awareness and encourage members of the community to register as an organ, eye and tissue donors when renewing their driver license. Celebration Sanitation employees joined the Lee family Thursday to honor Dylan.

When a person is not a registered organ donor on their driver license, the decision to donate is left with the family.

“What better way to honor our son, and spread the word of being a donor on your driver’s license,” Lee said. “Dylan wanted to be famous on social media, and so he’ll be able to ride on I-4 every day. If we don’t advocate organ donation, other lives will be lost.”