News
Remembering Jamar Burton and Darryl Collins
December 11, 2023
With heavy hearts, we say goodbye to our Team Tennessee Transplant Games team members, Darryl Collins (Lung Recipient) and Jamar Burton (Kidney Recipient). Darryl and Jamar both impacted our lives beyond measure. Their “Never Give Up” attitudes and infectious spirits are legacies that will stay with us forever. Our team will never be the same without them.
Jamar Avery Burton passed away on November 29, 2023 at the age of 35 and he was truly one of a kind. He will be remembered for his infectious smile, his strength and his courage. He was loved and cherished by so many and an inspiration to all. In life he always wanted to be like his siblings, he dreamed of his independence. Jamar successfully received three kidney transplants and he did not simply exist, he lived.
He was captain for a day for the Tennessee Titans and he even started on a national US Basketball Team. Jamar was a “gentle giant” and even though he was small in stature he was mighty in spirit.
Jamar was so loved and he will be missed by all those who knew him.
Larry Darryl Collins, age 55, passed from this life on November 29, 2023 at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, after fighting a battle with cystic fibrosis his entire life.
Darryl lived life to the fullest just to try to get a glimpse of what normal life would be like. He received the greatest gift on May 30, 2012, which was a double lung transplant. He was forever grateful for his donor Eric, who gave him a second chance at life, which he never took for granted. Darryl participated in the Transplant Olympics in Houston, TX, Cleveland, OH, and Salt Lake City, Utah. He was a fierce competitor and earned numerous medals: a gold in racquetball, which was his passion, a silver in cycling and many other medals and achievements. While visiting Salt Lake City he was finally able to visit the North Rim at the Grand Canyon, which had always been on his bucket list.
Darryl’s presence will be so deeply missed, but his spirit lives on in the hearts of all the many lives he touched.
About Tennessee Donor Services
An Extraordinary Commitment to Science, Health, and Hope
Tennessee Donor Services a non-profit, organ procurement organization (OPO) dedicated to saving and improving lives by connecting organ and tissue donations to the patients who need them. TDS serves nearly five and a half million people in Tennessee and Virginia.
