10-year-old fights for his life after terrible crash: On his deathbed, his mother makes decision with huge consequences

Somewhere in Australia, a child just left hospital with a brand new heart – all thanks to Riley Moon.

There’s also a baby that’s been given a new liver and a second chance at life – again, thanks to Riley Moon.

A man recently went home with a new kidney and a new pancreas, thanks to Riley Moon.

Riley Moon was just like any other 10-year-old boy. He lived with his family in Canberra, Australia, and did all the things 10-year-old boys usually do.

But though he might have appeared the same as any other child his age, Riley was different. Riley will be remembered forever.

As the middle child in his family, Riley was a good mediator. According to his mother, Jo, he often saw things from several perspectives.

With a sister 16 months older and a brother 23 months young, life at home was fast-paced and often full of buzz.

Riley was an independent boy who loved to take his dog Ziggy out for morning walks around the neighborhood. He was also athletic, and loved playing football, though he’d recently decided to give rugby a chance and so was looking forward to chancing his arm at that as well.

On February 23 this year, he took his scooter and footy bag to drop at his friend’s house. Then Riley hurried home to join his family for Friday night TV.

Nothing was out of the ordinary, particularly since spending time with his family was everything to Riley.

Only, this wasn’t a normal night. Sadly, in his excitement to get home, Riley was involved in a serious collision with a car.

When Jo got to the hospital and spoke with paramedics, she realised that the outlook was bleak.

Despite wearing a helmet, Riley had suffered severe injuries to his head during the collision. This left the family with big decisions to make.

Having always been advocates of organ donation, Jo and her husband Geoff decided to donate Riley’s organs to others. They figured it would be what Riley would want, being that he was a kind, generous and caring boy.

To Jo, it helped to give Riley’s death some meaning. She said it made the tragedy “seem a little less worthless … a bit less pointless”.

Of course, timing is critical when it comes to organ donations. Surgery was delayed when bad weather kept the transport helicopter grounded, but this gave Jo precious extra time with her son.

In the end, the family gave the green light. Everything went according to plan.

Thanks to the decision, three people can now have a second chance at life.

Jo has admitted it was an incredibly difficult decision, and a personal one, but one that has helped her family to cope with the loss of Riley.

“It gives us a little bit of hope knowing our strong beautiful boy lives through the lives of others,” she said, as per 9News.

In Australia alone, 1,400 people a year wait for life-saving organ donations. Those on said list have a 5 percent chance of dying before they can get what they need.

All told, a donor can potentially save as many as ten lives by giving away their organs to those desperately in need of them.

Riley’s funeral was held last Thursday, but earlier that week his friends, teachers, scouting mates and others who knew him gathered at his school to celebrate his life.

Riley grew up in a tight-knit community and so the vast majority of people knew who he was. Obviously, they were affected as well.

“I wanted the kids to know that grieving doesn’t have to be sobbing uncontrollably in your room alone. It can be shared and you can support each other,” Jo said.

Many people say they would like to give away their organs after their death, but the sad fact is that there remains a shortage of organ donors.

Personally, I couldn’t help but be touched by Riley’s story and how this remarkable young boy lives on in his own way.

Making the decision to donate parts of his body wasn’t easy for his parents, but it’s helped save the lives of several people and is something warm to cling to in the midst of all the sadness.

I’m sure the people who got another shot at life will be forever grateful to Riley. Please share if you, too, were touched by this story!