BUCKHANNON, W.Va. — A U.S. Army veteran killed in an Upshur County accident is being remembered this Veterans Day for giving the gift of life.
Thomas “Shayne” Knight, of Jane Lew, died at 35 years old after suffering injuries in a Buckhannon car wreck in late October. His wife, Aislynn Posey, was also killed in the crash.
Knight was a registered organ donor. After his death, his heart, lungs, liver, and kidney have gone to people in need.
His mother, Tina Fornash, said on MetroNews “Midday” on Wednesday that Knight was truly a good soul.
“My son was a very loving, very kind,” Fornash said. “He just wanted to help everybody. He wanted to do what he could to help everybody, even if he wasn’t okay. He just wanted to make sure everybody else was.”
Fornash said that her son began his service with the Mountaineer Challenge Academy, which instilled a drive to further serve the country. She said that Knight did communications, culinary, MP, and much more in the U.S. Army.
“He actually went to the Challenge Academy, and I think that’s where he decided that he wanted to become the person that he became,” Fornash said. “He started through that, and then he went almost immediately from there to serving.”
Knight leaves behind eight children. A funeral service with full military honors was held this past weekend. Posey, his wife, was also a registered tissue donor.
Fornash said that Knight was always passionate about becoming an organ donor. She advocated for CORE at the Weston Veterans Day parade in Lewis County on Wednesday, handing out pins and bracelets.
“That was something that he had expressed to me even at a younger age, that’s something he felt very strongly about, that he wanted to be able to donate organs if something were to happen to him,” Fornash remembered.
Cheryl King, a community outreach coordinator at the Center for Organ Recovery and Education (CORE), has many conversations with organ recipients. She said it’s a special moment when organ donors’ families meet the recipients who have been given the gift of life.
“That is when it really seems to come full circle,” King described. “When they’re able to talk to each other, see each other. And a lot of people have become part of each other’s families through this, what seems like such tragedy. There is hope associated with that tragedy.”
King said it’s very easy to sign up to become an organ donor, either online at core.org or in person.
“You can do it at the DMV when you go to get your license, you can do it when you get your hunting and fishing license in West Virginia,” King said. “And, something new, you can also do it when you register to vote.”