Our 16yr old daughter, Maddie Best, was involved in a fatal car accident in O’Fallon, IL on 10/20/23. She was a back seat passenger who was excited to be going to Six Flags for a fun Friday night with friends. Unfortunately, she made it only 8min from home before colliding with a tree. Over the following hours, first responders & medical personnel did everything possible to save Maddie, including giving her TWO blood transfusions.
She had sustained significant internal bleeding that ultimately lead to her passing. Maddie had just received her driver’s license and was committed to being an organ donor. This was important to her.
She was athletic and in perfect health, however was ultimately unable to donate her organs to others.
She ALWAYS put others first, regardless of the impact to herself.
There were multiple people that had donated blood just to give Maddie a chance at surviving.
They were anonymous in nature, but critical in every way.
Maddie made an impact on this world in so many ways, and she’ll continue to do so vicariously through us now.
The most significant way we can now honor Maddie – her character, her selflessness – is to come together and donate blood and save as many lives as we can in her name.