Tim Clauson sat in a hospital room and saw the tragic ending unfolding before him.
His son, 27-year-old race car driver Bryan Clauson, would die from the injuries he had suffered in a USAC midget crash the night before.
"We weren’t given any hope," said Tim Clauson of the night a month ago. Devastation set in.
But then — with one simple and selfless gesture Bryan Clauson made while he was still alive — what seemed like a cruel tragedy suddenly had a positive twist.
Yes, the Clausons would lose their beloved son, who had started racing as a scrawny 13-year-old at Kokomo Speedway. But as they lost him, he would save five other people's lives.
On his driver's license tucked away in his fiancee's purse was the ray of hope: Clauson was an organ donor.
"At that moment, our lives changed," said Tim Clauson at his son's celebration of life last month. "As bad as it was before, our lives changed for the better."
Because they were sure it was what Clauson would have wanted, the family started a campaign called "Chasing 200." They were hoping, in Clauson's honor, 200 people would pledge to be organ donors.
That goal was blown away.
On the day of his memorial service Aug. 24, more than 750 people had signed up. The family decided then their goal had been too modest and increased it to 2,000.
By Tuesday evening, exactly one month after Clauson's tragic accident that took his life, there were 3,761 people signed up on Clauson's registration website.
The Clauson family was told that is one of the largest national organ donation campaigns ever. With each person who is a donor, five people's lives can be saved. That means Clauson's death will potentially save nearly 18,800 lives — and it's still going on.
What a blessing, Tim Clauson said, for his son to carry on something greater than a racing legacy.
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