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Turning tragedy into hope: Lethbridge family donates Humboldt crash victim’s organs

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Turning tragedy into hope: Lethbridge family donates Humboldt crash victim’s organs
WATCH ABOVE: The family of 21-year-old Logan Boulet made a painful decision following the bus crash in Saskatchewan. On Sunday, the Lethbridge native was taken off life support and his organs donated. Malika Karim reports – Apr 8, 2018

In the face of tragedy, one Alberta family is offering hope to others.

Family of Humboldt Broncos player Logan Boulet from Lethbridge, who was injured in a deadly bus crash on Friday, shared his final wishes with Global News Saturday night.

Logan made it clear previously that he signed his donor card as soon as he turned 21. Even in his eventual passing, he will be a selfless hero.

READ MORE: Humboldt Broncos player Logan Boulet taken off life support, organs donated

LISTEN BELOW: Dr. Dennis Djogovic with the HOPE program speaks to 630 CHED’s Ryan Jespersen about Logan’s donation

Despite other media reports today, Logan’s strong heart continues to beat this evening. The final harvesting of Logan’s organs will take place overnight, now that he has positive matches for all organs donated. He is giving new hope to at least six different people.

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Boulet was taken off life support and the organ donation surgeries, which will help six people, have been completed, the family told Global News on Sunday.

People close to the family say they wouldn’t expect anything else.

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“Logan was a lot about the community, his teammates, his team, his family,” said Lethbridge Minor Hockey Association general manager Keith Hitchcock.

“He put all that ahead of himself and when I heard that’s what they were doing, I never even doubted it for a moment.”

More than 1,600 Canadians are added to organ wait lists every year. Although 90 per cent of Canadians support organ and tissue donation, less than 20 per cent have made plans to donate.

READ MORE: Humboldt Broncos bus crash prompts increase in blood donations 

Lethbridge couple Lisa and Benji Husband are living proof of the benefits of organ donation.

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For Lisa, the waiting list was long when she needed a liver transplant in 2015. Luckily, her husband Benji was a match.

The husbands say they are proud of the Boulet family for their selfless act.

“I don’t know Logan, I don’t know his family, but to me that just says he has some really good morals and he was raised really well,” Lisa said.

“It’s just such the responsible thing to do, especially for a 21-year-old.

“It just breaks my heart that he’s gone, but to save six lives is just amazing.”

“Unfortunately, there were more lives lost than saved [at this time],” Benji said. “But the silver lining out of it is that Logan and the Boulet family are absolute heroes.”
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Several lives will be touched by Logan’s donation.

For the moment, the Boulet family is asking for privacy but they are expected to speak publicly in the coming days.

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