News : Urbana 5/Iowa Donor Network event set for Sunday at Speedway

In the 14 months since losing her three children in the Urbana 5 accident, Tia Tuttle has heard many comments from people whose lives were touched by her family, and people who have been helped because of her decision to let her children be organ and tissue donors.

This Sunday, the Urbana 5 – Zoey and Hunter Tuttle and their brother Triston James-Ray Randall, their cousin, Quentin Ary, and their friend Nicole Renee Jacobson – will be honored at the Benton County Speedway for the 2nd Annual Iowa Donor Network/Urbana 5 event.

Family friend Brittany Usher will speak about the Urbana 5; others will tell the crowd about the importance of organ and tissue donations.

Tuttle said that of all the many thoughts she has experienced in the last 14 months, what’s on her mind now is the word “trivial.”

“Nothing in life seems trivial anymore. All those little things that seemed like they didn't matter or that were annoying then are now such precious memories,” she says.

At Cox Cemetery near Urbana, where Zoey, Hunter, Triston and Quentin were laid to rest together, a new monument stands in honor of them.

Tuttle is frequently reminded of the love her community has for the Urbana 5, and of the impact they have had since their death.

“Ever time I get a letter from a transplant recipient, yes I cry, but it's not just sad tears. I'm so proud and impressed how much our children are STILL changing lives of people they never met,” she says. “I've received letters from cornea recipients and the latest was a letter from a man who was also in an accident with a semi. He was almost completely paralyzed on the left side of his face and shoulder due to tissue damage. His letter explained that with tissue transplants from Triston, his life can return to normal. He has regained full function and is able to drive and enjoy life again.”

Usher says she is a bit nervous about what to say in her speech on Sunday. But as she prepares her remarks, she remembers much about the children of her best friend.

“I think about the little things,” she says. “When I do yard work, I think about Zoey helping me. Or when I see a golf cart, I think about Hunter asking me one million times, in Boone, at the Super Nationals race, if he could drive my golf cart. What I would give to hear him ask that just one more time. Little things like a dandelion make me think of Triston. Although dandelions are weeds, he thought they were beautiful. I think about how much joy they brought to not only my life, but 100s of others. There has been a big void in our hearts since April 9, 2015, which can never be filled.”

“Tia and I still think about what we thought about one year ago,” says Usher. “The way it felt to get one of Triston's big bear hugs, the sound of Hunter's laugh (his voice was changing), and what Zoey’s smile looked like. Those images flash through my mind on a daily basis.”

Usher and Tuttle’s friendship has helped them both get through the unimaginable pain caused by that accident.

“I think about how incredibly thankful I am to still have their mom,” says Usher. “She is the strongest person I have ever met. I vowed to myself, on the day of the accident, that I would be here for her no matter what happens. I vowed that because I thought she needed my strength, but little did I know, I needed hers much more than she needed mine.”

Although saying she is “terrified” of speaking in public, Usher says remembering the Urbana 5 and raising awareness of the need for organ and tissue donors are important reasons to stand up on the track where the community gathered for the funeral service. Triston, Hunter and Zoey were members of the pit crew for Dakoda Sellers sports mod racer. Usher thinks she will speak before the Sports Mod race.

Waiting list

Another person who plans to speak again this year is Jess Ender. Her boyfriend, Chris Luloff, is a racer who has had one kidney transplant and is now awaiting another. Last year, Ender recited Luloff’s history and spoke of his need for another transplant. A year later, he and many others still wait.