CORRECTION: Due to an editing error, Monday's pg. 3 article "ESPN to highlight mascot Ray's legacy" misattributed a quote. "This is especially important for our age range. Because we're very healthy, we have the healthiest and most useful organs around," was said by Jessica Holmes, a UNC alumna and a friend of Ray's and creator of the "In Support of Jason Ray" Facebook group. The Daily Tar Heel apologizes for the error.
For five New Jersey families, Rameses the ram represents more than just UNC athletics.
Members of those families were on organ-donation waiting lists in March when UNC mascot Jason Ray was struck by a sport utility vehicle on the shoulder of a New Jersey highway and killed.
Ray, who was traveling with the UNC men's basketball team for the NCAA tournament, was an organ donor. After his death, five people were able to receive transplants.
The debut of ESPN's "E:60" news show will feature a 16-minute segment on Ray, highlighting the legacy he left behind.
"ESPN had already been planning on writing a piece about Jason," said UNC alumna Jessica Holmes, a friend of Ray's and creator of the "In Support of Jason Ray" group on Facebook.com. "When they found out that he was a donor, they decided to write about how he changed people's lives."
Holmes said Ray's parents asked her to inform others about the ESPN segment, so she created an event on Facebook. After several students asked about having a campus viewing, Holmes contacted the Carolina Athletic Association, which will host a viewing.
"Jason was a part of campus athletics," CAA President Colby Almond said. "So there was no question about it that we were going to host the viewing."
ESPN also reconnected Ray's parents with the recipients of his organs and performed interviews with family and friends, Holmes said.
On Monday ESPN released an interactive "E-Ticket" Web site focusing on Ray's life, death and legacy.
The site features stories about the organ recipients and their relationship with the Ray's.
Holmes said she hopes people, students especially, will understand the importance of being an organ donor after hearing Ray's story.
"This is especially important for our age range," said Lynda Yang, who works with the group Life Takes Guts."Because we're very healthy, we have the healthiest and most useful organs around," she said.
Yang said she hopes the show will inspire students to be organ donors.
"Whenever a well-known person is an organ donor, it convinces other people to consider it," she said.
North Carolinians can either get a heart symbol on their driver's licenses or fill out an organ donor card to become donors.
And for some students - such as junior Jacinta Jones, whose aunt needed organs and blood transfusions - Ray's story has personal significance.
"Students can benefit from hearing about this," she said. "It shows that there's a bright side to every situation."
ATTEND THE VIEWING Time: 7 p.m. today Location: Carroll 111 Info: sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=rayofhope
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
