The second annual Green Shirt Day may have looked a little different than the first due to COVID-19 restrictions but the campaign, in honour of the Logan Boulet Effect, still created a wave of support for organ donation on social media.
“The response of Canadians right now is overwhelming,” said Toby Boulet, the father of Humboldt Bronco, Logan.
Toby said he kept an eye on Twitter throughout the day, with #GreenShirtDay trending Canada-wide from the morning on.
“The organ donation community — the recipients — they’ve rallied around the cause on social media, and they’re posting like crazy, it’s awesome.”
April 7, 2020, marks two years since Logan’s passing.
Toby said the Boulets were told in October that more than 300,000 Canadians have registered to become organ donors since hearing Logan’s story.
“It’s helpful in a way because it allows us to be able to have another focus of our day,” said Logan’s mother Bernadine.
“We’re not just thinking about what our loss was, but we can also think about the things that were gained from Logan’s passing, and the positive stuff that will come out of it.”
Logan’s decision to donate his organs helped to save the lives of six people following the Broncos bus crash.
In the last three weeks, Toby and Bernadine have received letters from two recipients of their son’s organs.
A letter from the person who received Logan’s heart was read at his grave Tuesday morning.
“Bernie said from day one… ‘I just want to be able to listen to Logan’s heart again,’ and we didn’t scare the person off,” said Toby. “Hopefully we can communicate a little more, because the person said that they want to meet us some day.”
“They can’t be very specific, but we could tell by the way the letter was written, the gratitude the recipient had,” said Bernadine, “how it will make an impact on their life and their family’s life. Their family was the big thing that was in the message.”
Stories of their son’s impact have reached the Boulets from all over the country.
“So it does make a difference.”
The Boulets said it’s the discussions surrounding organ donation that are most important, as a single conversation can lead to a bigger wave of registrations.
“Having that conversation is as important as registering,” said Bernadine.