DARLINGTON, SC (WBTW) – A family from the Grand Strand teamed up with Donate Life organization after their son passed away while waiting for a lung transplant.
“Justin pushed, he was a pusher. He fought the disease and he enjoyed life to the absolute fullest,” said Justin’s father, Alan Sipe.
Justin Sipe was a young man full of life, but unfortunately his life was cut short at just 23 years old.
“His lungs started to deteriorate, however his dreams did not deteriorate,” said Sipe.
Cystic fibrosis didn’t stop Justin, he instead continued to pursue his dreams by completing his written exam for the Horry County police department, but there’s more. “On a 90 degree July day, he completed the Horry County police agility test, a very excruciating test of physical endurance,” said Sipe.
The family tells me Justin then enrolled at Charleston Southern for his master’s degree, but his lungs couldn’t take it.
“We got him on the waiting list for a lung transplant and he was on that list for approximately two years, unfortunately the lungs did not come in time,” said Sipe.
When Justin passed away, the family wanted to do something more in his honor.
“We made the conscious decision to devote our efforts to donate life, to organ tissues and eyes donations, so that by some small way we can help others get things they need that Justin wasn’t able to get,” said Sipe.
The one message Alan has for his son, “Attack life like you did before and everything is going to be ok,” said Sipe.
Justin’s sister was a recipient of a tissue transplant not to long ago and the family believes she was following in his footsteps.