Racing to Donate

The work makes it easier — handing out the Dilly Bars, talking to people, getting the message out. There isn’t a day that goes by that Bob O’Brien doesn’t think about his son, and sometimes the work is all he has.

Brendan O’Brien was struck and killed by a drunk driver while walking home from a church function on April 23, 2013, and when the doctors told Bob O’Brien that there was no brain activity, he made the choice to take Brendan off life support. It was the choice Bob O’Brien made next that changed his life and lives of eight other people.

He agreed to donate Brendan’s organs, so suddenly people all around the country started to get phone calls. An 8 year old girl got a new heart, two different fathers got each of Brendan’s kidneys, his pancreas went to someone else, as well as both of his eyes. Eight different people got a second chance at life, and so did Bob O’Brien.

After agreeing to donate his son’s organs, O’Brien has become a passionate advocate for organ donation, giving away free ice cream on the anniversary of his son’s death, at the Dairy Queen he owns along with bracelets and information that educates people about the importance of organ donation.

“This is my way of dealing with the grief, he was my only son, and when I lost him I lost all of my children, and all of my family,” O’Brien said, wiping away a tear.

He’s tried to give speeches, to talk about his experience, and how important it is to become a donor, but it’s too hard. He’ll get choked up every time he thinks about his son. It’s easier to talk about the process, what happens to the organs and why it’s so important that people who need them can get them.

“This is my way of helping,” O’Brien said.

It was earlier this month that O’Brien got a call, asking if he’d like to have his son’s picture on a race car. Joey Gase, a driver in Nascar’s Xfinity series was someone who knew exactly where O’Brien was coming from. In April of 2011, his mother suffered a sudden brain aneurysm. When doctors asked if the family was willing to donate his mother’s organs, Gase went home to get her driver’s license. Even though she’d never told her son, she’d checked yes on the box for organ donation.

“She couldn’t continue her life, but she had an opportunity to help others continue theirs,” Gase said.

Gase has partnered with organ donation organizations all around the country. At every race the hood of his Chevrolet Camaro carries a picture of a local organ donor, along with the handprints of their friends and family. Alongside the handprints are messages, to the donor and to Gase. Every time Gase looks across the hood it’s a reminder of why he does this.

“I think she’d be proud that we’re doing this,” Gase said. “We’ve made a big impact; mom has made a big impact.”

Despite struggles in June Gase is excited to be back home again, where it all started for him. He’s confident in the car, and he claims he’s probably run more laps at Iowa Speedway than any other driver in the field. When times are tough, and everything is up against him, he just has to look down at the hood, to Brendan O’Brien’s picture, with his father’s handprint next to it, to remind him why he’s here.

Saturday Bob O’Brien will be in the stands, cheering Gase on as hard as he can, watching Brendan’s picture circle the track, thinking about his boy.

Next to his handprint O’Brien wrote a message to his son, and to Gase.

“Daddy loves you, beep!” O’Brien wrote. “Go Joey go.”

Contact David Dolmage at 641-792-3121 ext. 6532 or ddolmage@newtondailynews.com