Mother honors son, urges others to give gift of life this holiday season

URGING HOLIDAY DONOR REGISTRATION. RIGHT NOW, THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE ARE IN NEED. WE’VE GOT MISS STEPHANIE CATOIRE JOINING US. MISS STEPHANIE, I CAN’T THANK YOU ENOUGH FOR JOINING US THIS SUNDAY MORNING. YOUR SON, JD, HE HAS AN INCREDIBLE AND POWERFUL STORY. FOR THOSE WHO DON’T KNOW ABOUT IT, WALK US THROUGH IT. JD WAS COMING BACK FROM WORK WHEN HE WAS INVOLVED IN A TRUCK ACCIDENT AND HAD A TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY. HE WASN’T GOING TO SURVIVE. HE WAS A REGISTERED DONOR AND BECAUSE OF THAT, WE DECIDED TO GO AHEAD AND DONATE HIS ORGANS. HE WAS ABLE TO DONATE SIX OF HIS ORGANS AND MULTIPLE TISSUES. HE SAVED SIX LIVES. WOW. WE WERE ABLE TO MEET TWO OF HIS RECIPIENTS. ONE LIVES IN BATON ROUGE AND ONE LIVES IN ON THE WEST COAST. KRISTEN CAME TO OUR HOUSE, TO OUR HOUSE, AND TOLD US A STORY THAT SHE HAD BEEN ON DIALYSIS FOR SIX YEARS AND WE WERE ABLE TO HELP HER HAVE A SECOND CHANCE AT LIFE. AND IT’S JUST VERY IMPORTANT FOR EVERYBODY TO BE A REGISTERED DONOR. TALK TO YOUR FAMILY, HAVE THAT TALK. GO TO. LAKE BORGNE. REGISTER AT THE DMV WHEN YOU RENEW YOUR DRIVER’S LICENSE. I JUST FEEL SO GRATEFUL THAT HE WAS HELPED, THAT HE HELPED SO MANY PEOPLE. DOES IT MAKE YOU EMOTIONAL THIS TIME OF YEAR? YOU KNOW A LOT’S GOING ON, BUT A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE IN NEED AND YOUR STORY RESONATES WITH A LOT OF PEOPLE. THE FIRST YEAR IT WAS THE HARDEST, YOU KNOW, WITH HIM NOT BEING THERE FOR CHRISTMAS, YOU KIND OF GO WITH THE FLOW. I STILL HAVE MY MOMENTS WHERE I DO GET EMOTIONAL WHEN I SEE A TRUCK OR I HEAR A SONG, YOU KNOW? BUT IT IT HELPS IN THE LONG RUN. KNOWING THAT HE WAS HELPED, HE HELPED SO MANY PEOPLE AND IT GIVES ME COMFORT, YOU KNOW, IN MY GRIEF THAT THAT HE WAS ABLE TO DO THIS. I KNOW IT’S EMOTIONAL TO TALK ABOUT, TALK ABOUT IS IT WHEN YOU MEET THE PEOPLE THAT HE HELPED, DO YOU FEEL LIKE HE’S STILL LIVING? YES. IN SOME FORM OR WITH YOU IN SOME FORM? YES, YES. HOW SO? WHEN KRISTEN CAME TO THE HOUSE IN TELLING US HER STORY, IT WAS LIKE A MIRACLE THAT WE WERE ABLE TO GIVE HER A SECOND CHANCE AT LIFE. SHE WAS ABLE TO FINISH HER EDUCATION. SHE WAS ABLE TO GET MARRIED, YOU KNOW, WITHOUT THIS ORGAN DONATION, SHE WOULD HAVE NEVER BEEN ABLE TO DO ANY OF THIS. WOW. WELL, WE CAN’T THANK YOU ENOUGH. AND YOU’VE ALSO GOT SOME SOME GREAT EVENTS SET UP AT CITY PARK AS WELL AS A TREE WE DO HAS A TREE SET UP EVERY YEAR AT CITY PARK. THIS YEAR’S THEME IS LET LIFE SING, LET LIFE SING. I LOVE IT. WELL, WE CAN’T THANK YOU ENOUGH FOR STOPPING BY AND WE’RE GOING TO POST ALL OF THIS INFORMATION RIGHT NOW ON THE WDSU MOBILE APP. AND I APPRECIATE YOU STOPPING BY. THANK YOU SO MUCH. SO AGAIN, ALL T

Mother honors son, urges others to give gift of life this holiday season

Updated: 12:13 PM CST Dec 7, 2025

Editorial Standards ⓘ

Jonathan David “JD” Catoir was involved in a traffic accident in June 2019.Jonathan was a registered organ, tissue, and eye donor. Now, after his death, Jonathan has saved six lives through organ donation and has enhanced the lives of many more with tissue donation. Stephanie, Jonathan’s mom, continues to spread the word about the importance of registering as an organ, tissue, and eye donor.To learn more about the work that LOPA does, and to register to become an organ, eye, and tissue donor, visit www.lopa.org.

NEW ORLEANS —

Jonathan David “JD” Catoir was involved in a traffic accident in June 2019.

Jonathan was a registered organ, tissue, and eye donor.

Now, after his death, Jonathan has saved six lives through organ donation and has enhanced the lives of many more with tissue donation.

Stephanie, Jonathan’s mom, continues to spread the word about the importance of registering as an organ, tissue, and eye donor.

To learn more about the work that LOPA does, and to register to become an organ, eye, and tissue donor, visit www.lopa.org.