‘Your dad is a hero’: Man killed in motorcycle crash donates organs, helps over 102 people

IDAHO FALLS — Dylan Wormsbaker’s four children will remember him as a hero.

Born to a family of avid motorcyclists, Wormsbaker decided to buy his first bike at 18 years old.

“I told him, you’ve got to be careful on a bike,” said his father, Curtis Wormsbaker, during Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center’s Organ Donation Month Flag-Raising Ceremony on Wednesday. “Ride like you’re invisible and always protect your head.”

Throughout the next seven years, the younger Dylan Wormsbaker built a thriving plumbing business and continued to ride motorcycles as his pastime.

On March 17, 2023, a woman driving a van failed to yield to 25-year-old Wormsbaker on his motorcycle and hit him, causing a traumatic brain injury, as reported by KMVT.

On the day of the crash, Curtis Wormsbaker received a call from one of his son’s employees at the plumbing company, saying there had been an accident and Wormsbaker was being taken to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center.

“(I thought) OK, no big deal. He probably hurt his hip, or leg, or broke his arm or something, you know? No big deal,” said Curtis Wormsbaker. “We got a call when we were about halfway (to the hospital). There’s a surgeon on the phone, and he’s asking me for permission to open my son’s skull to release pressure.”

Over the next few days, Dylan Wormsbaker’s parents, Curtis and Kim Wormsbaker, went through unimaginable agony as doctors performed many tests and tried everything to save Wormsbaker.

Eventually, doctors told Wormsbaker’s parents that he was not going to recover brain function.

“We talked with the surgeon, and I just asked him straightforwardly,” Curtis Wormsbaker recalled. “He told me he had a son. And I said, ‘If this were your son, what would you do?’ And he said, ‘I would let him go.'”

At that point, Wormsbaker’s parents decided to take him off of life support and honor his wishes to donate his organs. Little did they know just how many lives their son would change.

“We started getting stuff from Donor Connect, and we’re going, ‘Wow. My son is a hero,'” said Curtis Wormsbaker. “My son helped over 102 people change their lives.”

Saving lives

Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center works with Donor Connect to dispel misconceptions about organ donation and make sure more patients can access life-saving organs.

By signing up as an organ donor and selflessly giving his organs to over 102 people, Wormsbaker saved and changed the lives of patients and their families nationwide.

According to Coleen Neiman, spokesperson for Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center, Wormsbaker was able to donate his heart to a man who lives in the West Coast, his left kidney was given to a retired father of one, his lungs were gifted to a woman in the Midwest, and he was able to contribute to a research project which aims to help men with infertility problems, among countless other organ and tissue donations.

“I had no idea the extent of the impact that a donation like that can make to so many people,” said Niemann. “So I wanted you all to hear, and that clearly isn’t 102 people, it’s just a small clip.”

After Wormsbaker’s organs were donated, the Wormsbakers say they began to hear from some of the people who had received their son’s organs.

“One of the gentlemen … he drew a picture on paper and set it to Donor Connect, and Donor Connect sent it to us,” said Curtis Wormsbaker. “That was cool to hear from this gentleman, having his story written out for us so we can get a glimpse into his life and what it did for him and his life — and our son did that.”

Following Dylan Wormsbaker’s death, Curtis and Kim Wormsbaker say they are teaching their grandchildren that their dad was a hero and continues to impact lives across the country, even in death.

“He changed a lot of lives, and Donor Connect made that happen,” said Curtis Wormsbaker. “We talk to my grandson and we tell him that his dad’s a hero.”

According to Leslie Anderson, a hospital specialist with Donor Connect, one donor can save up to eight lives and heal dozens of others through tissue donation.

“Right here in our region, 975 people are on the waitlist. I’m not sure Dylan knew the full impact he would have when he registered as an organ donor,” says Anderson. “But his gift of life continues to shine through every life he touched in laughter shared, in lives saved, and in hope renewed.”

The Donor Connect website has more information about registering to be an organ donor in Idaho, Utah, Wyoming and Nevada.