Concord native's legacy lives on as an inspiration to organ donors

CONCORD, N.C. — It's been 10 years since Emmitt and Charlotte Ray lost their son, but not a day has passed without honoring his legacy.

"Jason was a good guy," Emmitt Ray said. "He had a big heart. No pun intended. He was just a good kid."
Ray, a Concord native, was the UNC-Chapel Hill mascot Ramses, but most importantly, he was an organ donor.
Ray, who died when he was 21 years old, saved four people's lives by donating his organs.

“There are so many people waiting for a heart, a kidney, a lung. And then you look in the paper at how many people are on the obituary list, and you think if everybody was a donor, look how we could cut all that down,” said Charlotte Ray.

His parents continue to do what's making all the difference for their son by helping families in need of organ donations.

They're now working to raise $1 million for transplant patients.

They've raised $400,000 so far.

Ray’s story alone has been credited with a spike of nearly 50,000 people who signed up as an organ donor.

There has also been a clinic at UNC Medical Center renamed in his honor, the Jason Ray Transplant Clinic.

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