Specialty License Plates in Wyoming Promote Donor Awareness

Last year a father and son from Lyman teamed up with Uinta County Senator Wendy Shuler to develop legislation to create a special license plate for the state of Wyoming to promote organ donor awareness.

Their hard work has paid off, because Donor Alliance has announced the new specialty plate has launched. The new plate will serve to inspire Wyomingites to donate and save lives.

This time last year we were talking to Bryson Quinney and his dad, Eric for our Report to Wyoming podcast about their efforts to make this happen.

Bryson was born with only half a heart.

At just four days old, Bryson had his first heart surgery in order to stay alive.

Over the course of the next several years, he had three open heart surgeries, and he was doing well, but by teenage years needed oxygen because his heart wasn't quite keeping up with daily activities.

By twelve he started having problems with his liver, connected to the way his heart functioned.

In the fall of 2019 when he was almost 13, he was put on the organ waiting list.

Bryson received a new heart in March 2020.

He spent about two months at the Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City prior to getting the transplant.

Now that he's gotten his heart, Bryson and his family have started to promote organ donation awareness to save other lives.

While in the hospital there was a sweet young girl next to Bryson.

She was 13.

She was waiting for a heart and a kidney, but unfortunately, a few months after Bryson got his heart, McKenzie Madsen passed away from her heart condition.

"That was a hard time because Bryson became pretty close to McKenzie as they were in the hospital together waiting for organs to sustain their lives."

People are dying as they wait for organs.

Right now over 100,000 people in the U.S. are waiting for life-saving organs.

There are over 100 people in the state of Wyoming on the waitlist.

"Our license plates are a source of pride in Wyoming and can be rolling billboards in terms of some of the things you see out there right now--wildlife conservation, veterans, UW alumni...what this bill is trying to do is start conversations with people and families so they can understand the importance of organ donation and the difference it makes in people's lives."

"Sometimes people think of organs in terms of heart, liver, kidneys. Eyes and tissue donation is huge in terms of helping other people that may have been burned...there's just so many opportunities to help other people through organ, eye and tissue donation."

Register and review the donation process here.