Alan Zinda was full of life and shared his love, laughter and kindness with everyone he met. He was only 22 on the night of August 8, 2010, when he died from injuries incurred from a car accident near his home. Alan's organ gifts saved three people, one of whom lives in Israel and whom his family has met. When Alan signed up to be a donor, he told his mother Beverly Zinda that his organs wouldn't do him any good when he's gone and that he'd like to help people if he could. She acknowledged that "It has been comforting to our family to know that something good has come from something so tragic."

Alan's Story

Alan J. Zinda was full of life and shared his love, laughter and kindness with everyone he met. In addition to working with the Boy Scout Troop 200 of Rosholt, WI, he also enjoyed deer hunting, reading, playing video games, and spending time with his friends and family, especially his two young nephews. He brought a smile to the face of everyone who knew him.

On the night of August 8, 2010, Alan called his parents to say he was leaving a friend's house and that he would be home soon. He was only 22 years old when he died from injuries incurred during a car accident that night, just a few hundred yards from the family's home.

"The day he got his driver's license, he told me he'd signed up to be an organ donor," recalled Alan's mother Beverly Zinda. "He told me that his organs wouldn't do him any good when he's gone and that he'd like to help people if he could. Looking back, I realize now that it's a perfect example of how he lived his life-that's just the kind of person he was. It has been comforting to our family to know that something good has come from something so tragic."

Although three people directly received the gift of life because of Alan's selfless decision to register as an organ donor, there are countless others whose lives have been improved because their loved ones received the organs they needed to survive. The true influence of Alan's gift is immeasurable.

While Alan lived his entire life in one town, his love and compassion for others is felt around the world. In October 2013, the Zinda family met the recipient of Alan's heart: Yitzahk Wolf of Tel Aviv, Israel, who likely would have died waiting for a transplant in his own country where policies regarding organ donation are more restrictive. An Israeli television station picked up the story and created a documentary about how Alan's heart saved Itzahk's life with the hope of inspiring the people of Israel to make an important change in donation policies and save the lives of many more people there.