COLUMBUS, Ohio — EDITOR'S NOTE: The attached video originally aired on Nov. 11, 2021.
More than a year has passed since the alleged hazing incident that led to the death of Bowling Green State University student Stone Foltz; but since then, he's helped more than 100 people through organ and tissue donation.
On March 4, 2021, Foltz attended an off-campus event for the Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity at Bowling Green State University. He was later found unconscious by a roommate.
Foltz was placed on life support for organ donation and died on March 7, 2021.
His parents, Cory and Shari Foltz, said their son always had a caring heart. So, they weren't surprised to learn he signed on to be an organ donor as a teenager. But, the family didn't expect to feel the weight of that decision so soon.
“The pain was unimaginable,” Shari Foltz said. “You can’t even describe it. I mean, we’re in shock, we’re in trauma. I mean, we just took it minute by minute, literally.”
After his death, with the help of Life Connection of Ohio, the pair followed through with their son's wishes. Stone Foltz was able to give his left kidney to a child and his right kidney to a teenage girl. He donated his liver and his lungs to men in their 50s. His heart helped save a woman in her 20s, and his corneas returned vision to someone else.
Through tissue donation, he was able to help more than 100 others.
The family has made contact with some of the people impacted by his decision to donate, and they said they hope to hear even more of their stories.
"We have heard from two of Stone's recipients and we continue to pray that we hear from the others," Cory and Shari Foltz said in a joint statement. "When we hear from the recipients, it gives us joy knowing Stone continues to live on and that he will always be a hero."
Nearly 100,000 people in the United States are currently waiting for life-saving transplants, with more than 3,000 of them here in Ohio.
The organ shortage continues to grow, as another person is added to the waiting list every 10 minutes. Unfortunately, an average of 20 people die every day waiting for an organ transplant.
But the good news is, just one person has the power to save up to eight lives through organ donation and heal another 125 through donating tissue.
For more information on how you can become an organ donor visit the Life Connection website.