Travis Overton

Donor Hero

“Travis and I met playing on a co-ed sponge ball team. We hit it off and after several months of friendship, we began dating. Two months later he proposed and four months after that, we got married. I never could have dreamed of the happiness, laughter and joy we experienced together.” shared Rebecca, wife of donor hero Travis.  

“Travis was a retired Sargent with the Oconee County Sheriff’s Department where he served as a correctional office. He was a member of Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church, where he sang in the choir, was the educational director and assisted with Kids on Missions. Travis was an avid FSU fan, enjoyed pier fishing and helping care for our farm animals. His great joy was spending time with his children, whether he was watching his son play baseball and basketball or watching movies and playing games with his daughter. He was a kind, funny and loving son, brother, friend, husband and father.  

Travis had many health issues for many years including breathing and heart problems with no answers, no diagnosis and no real treatment. Finally came a diagnosis of eosinophilic syndrome, which is a blood disorder. After heart surgery, he medically retired from work and became a stay-at-home dad to our children. All was well until he began to have seizures. His last grand mal seizure sent him into cardiac arrest and he never recovered. He was intubated, placed on a ventilator and continued to remain in a state of small seizures. After a few days and an MRI, we learned there was significant damage to his brain and we decided to remove the ventilator. He passed away a few minutes after.  

When faced with losing my best friend, my husband, the father to our children, I was overwhelmed with every emotion you can think of. I found hope and peace in saying yes to organ donation. It allowed us to honor him in a special way and for family and friends to gather to say goodbye. I was relieved to find out that despite his health conditions; his kidneys and liver were able to be transplanted. He was also a tissue and cornea donor, only adding to the selfless gifts he was able to give to others. While there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t wish he was still here with us, I found hope in being able to share a part of Travis with others in need.”