Ripple effects: How the death of a 15-year-old saved lives and spread kindness

Troy Shinn

2 years ago

A big blue rock was painted in honor of Hayden Carleton, who died in 2011 and is the inspiration for an organ donor awareness campaign. It's surrounded by several other rocks hand painted by volunteers and given out to people at Kaiser Permanente Westside Medical Center on Feb. 14, 2023. (Courtesy: Anne Carleton)

PORTLAND, Ore (PORTLAND TRIBUNE) — Rocks carry a great deal of symbolism for Anne Carleton, an orthopedic technician at Kaiser Permanente’s Westside Medical Center in Hillsboro.

When you toss one in the water, it creates ripples. Carleton knows this well.

After the sudden and unexpected death of her 15-year-old son, Hayden, in 2011, she was prompted to start a campaign in his name — Hayden Kindness Rocks, a volunteer rock-painting effort to raise awareness for organ donation.

Hayden was himself an organ donor, which he signed up for when he qualified for his Oregon driver’s permit just eight months before his death. His decision to put the little letter “D” on his permit ended up saving seven lives.

“It’s all about kindness, in honor of a really kind human,” Carleton said of the campaign, which reached its apex this month, as April is Organ Donor Awareness Month. “This whole project just makes sense to me, being Hayden’s mom.”