Wall Teen's Organ Donations Honored At Rose Parade

A couple of years ago, Luke Bautista presented his family with a plan: he wanted to take a trip to California.

"He broke every part of it down, along with an estimated cost," C.J. Bautista said as he talked about his younger brother's efforts to convince his parents to make the trip.

Two years after Luke laid out those plans for a trip, the Bautistas are in California. Luke is the reason for the trip — and is there too, in spirit: He is among the honorees on the Donate Life float in the Tournament of Roses parade. The float is sponsored by the Dignity Memorial network of funeral homes. The theme of the float is the Gift of Time.

The parade kicks off at 11 a.m. Eastern time Monday and is televised on ABC, NBC, the Hallmark Channel, and HGTV.

C.J. Bautista. his father Chris, mother Carla and her husband, Tim Babcock, are in Pasadena as part of the trip that honors Luke's gift of life. The 14-year-old died in May 2016 and his family made the decision to donate his organs; five people received life-saving organ transplants and dozens of others received tissue donated from Luke.

Luke's picture is one of 44 on the Donate Life float, and the plant-and-seed floragraph part of a Mayan calendar-inspired centerpiece. In addition to the organ donors being honored, the float includes some of those who received the life-giving donations.

At a ceremony on Nov. 15 at Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, Luke's floragraph was unveiled for the first time, and C.J. Bautista spoke about his brother, telling the story of the California trip plans and also thanking those in attendance for honoring his brother. The ceremony was sponsored by Dignity Memorial as well.

"The kind of person that he was continues to be shared over and over by those he touched," C.J. said.

Read Luke's story here: Wall Teen's Final Gift: Saving Lives Through Organ Donation

The family continues to raise funds for the NJ Sharing Network and raise awareness of organ donation. You can support the effort by following Team Luke on the NJ Network Sharing network website.

Photos by Karen Wall, Patch staff

Note: This article has been updated to correct the number of floragraphs on the float.