Images of Isak Anderson, 14, and Courtney Dayback, 19, will be affixed to a float recognizing organ donation in the annual parade
Two New Jersey teenagers who donated their organs when they died, giving other gravely ill people a second chance at life, will be honored at the annual Rose Parade in Pasadena, Calif., Monday, according to published reports.
Images of 14-year-old Isak Anderson, of Sparta, and 19-year-old Courtney Dayback, of Holmdel, will be affixed to the Donate Life float in the televised parade, now in its 128th year.
The float, one of dozens in the parade, is meant to spread awareness about the importance of organ donation. Those who have received donated organs will ride atop the float, a Polynesian sailing vessel. It will carry the images of 60 donors from around the country in what are known as floragraphs, portraits made with floral materials.
Other organ recipients will walk alongside the float bearing flowers.
Anderson died of an undetected congenital heart defect in 2014, shortly after his graduation from Sparta Middle School. His parents donated his kidneys, liver and corneas, according to a report in the New Jersey Herald.
Dayback, a Holmdel High School graduate attending Brookdale Community College, suffered cardiac arrest and died in 2008. Her family told the Asbury Park Press her organs helped seven people.
"We're honored," Dayback's father, Dennis Dayback, told the newspaper. "Courtney is not with us, but I'm very proud of Courtney. She was just a very giving, very generous person."
It's the 14th year that Donate Life, a national agency that promotes organ donation, has been a participant in the parade. On its website, the group says 123,000 Americans are on waiting lists for life-saving organs.
The parade, which kicks off at 11 a.m., typically falls on New Year's Day. This year it is on a Monday because the holiday fell on a Sunday.
Mark Mueller may be reached at mmueller@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MarkJMueller. Find NJ.com on Facebook.