“Organ donation helped us start the healing process as we began our ‘new normal’ without our Jacob,” says Lynn Daily, mother of Jacob Daily who passed away after a work-related truck crash in 2009.
Jacob, of Yuma, saved multiple lives, including a 10-year-old girl who received one of his kidneys.
“We got the phone call no one wanted to get,” Jennifer Loredo, his sister, says. “But we know that all of those people had gotten the phone call they were praying for.”
Jacob’s legacy continues to resonate in a full-circle moment of sorts. In 2024, the extended Daily family was in prayer themselves for a similar call for Jacob’s cousin, Teresa Daily-Kerley. Doctors diagnosed her with granulomatous myositis, a rare inflammatory muscle disease. After a year of treatment, Teresa was also diagnosed with congestive heart failure, a chronic condition in which the heart can no longer pump blood efficiently. After jumping through many more medical hurdles, Daily-Kerley got that phone call in January 2024 that a donor or their family chose to share life with her.
“I was blessed to only be on the [heart transplant] waiting list for five days,” Daily-Kerley says, an indicator to how her health was rapidly deteriorating. “I didn’t have time to really think about it, but I prayed and prayed.”
Reflecting on her first experience with organ donation, Lynn says the decision to donate Jacob’s organs played a pivotal role in her family’s healing. DThe donation not only offered hope to the family but also created a sense of purpose during their overwhelming sorrow.
“Jacob’s passing brought organ donation to the forefront in our hometown, Yuma,” she says.
Since Jacob’s passing, his family has become passionate advocates for organ donation, sharing their personal experience to encourage others to consider giving the gift of life. They share their story, hoping to inspire others to register as organ donors. Jacob’s story underscores how a single, selfless act can create a lasting legacy and offer hope in the face of deep loss. His legacy lives on, not only in the lives he touched but also in the hearts of those who carry on his memory and his message of love, generosity and healing.
“Our family believes in organ donation,” Teresa says, reflecting on being part of both a donor and recipient family. “It has blessed our family in more ways than one.”
“We know that Jacob’s life was not lost in vain because so many people have lived on through his donation,” Lynn says.