Ann Arbor, Mich. – A 39-year-old wife and mother of two from Grand Blanc was among 81 organ, tissue or cornea donors from across the nation honored on the Donate Life Rose Parade Float in Pasadena, Calif.
Teresa Cassavoy died in March after suffering a brain hemorrhage. She became a hero that day, saving the lives of two people and countless others with her gifts of tissue and corneas.
Each of the donors were remembered with artistic floral portraits called floragraphs, made entirely of natural materials.
On Friday, Dec. 20, Teresa’s family and friends unveiled her floragraph made by artists working to build the donation float in Pasadena. They will completed the final details of her floragraph themselves using materials shipped to them by event organizers.
The family was joined by others in Michigan’s donation and transplantation community who signed the Donate Life Transplant Games of America flag making its way across the country en route to the July 2014 games in Houston.
“It is a tremendous honor for our family to have Teresa represented on the 2013 Donate Life float,” said her husband, Bryon Cassavoy. “Teresa had such a good heart and for her to save lives through organ donation is a special legacy. We are very proud of her.”
Nearly a half million people joined the Michigan Organ Donor Registry in 2013.
To join the registry and get a red heart emblem for your driver’s license or state ID, visit giftoflifemichigan.org, call 800.482.4881 or visit any Secretary of State branch office. Those who have signed the back of their license, or registered previously, should update their registration to get the red heart donor emblem.
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