Denton crash victim, a bride-to-be, was an advocate for organ donations
Jordan Dodson, who died in a Sunday car crash on Highway 380 in Denton, benefited from organ donations throughout her life. Now, her family said, she has given back as an organ donor herself.
Dodson, 31, was one of three people killed in the traffic accident. The crash also led to the deaths of two young sisters, Karoline and Kimberlyn Satterfield, who were 5 months old and 4 years old.
Family and friends have started GoFundMe campaigns to raise money for medical and funeral expenses.
Dodson’s uncle Brian Rebecek said she was a joyous, strong woman who advocated that people become organ donors. Rebecek said she would be happy to know she was able to donate her organs to help other people.
Having been born with polycystic kidney syndrome, Dodson had three kidney transplants and a liver transplant. The first kidney transplant came from her dad, the second from a non-related donor and the third from her fiance, Robert, whose last name has not been released.
Robert was in the car with Dodson and is undergoing continued medical care. A GoFundMe created by Dodson’s family aims to cover his medical expenses as well as Dodson’s medical and funeral expenses. The fundraiser had made $14,308 toward its goal of $20,000 as of Tuesday afternoon.
Another effort to raise funds for funerals by the family of the two girls who were killed in the accident had raised $4,860. They are trying to raise $10,000. Two adult members of their family — the girls’ father and his mother-in-law — were critically injured in the crash.
The children’s mother was not in the car, a family friend told KDFW-TV.
“She’s devastated. She doesn’t understand why this would happen,” Kayla Wakefield told KDFW. “She feels like she was robbed, and she was.”
Denton police said they’re still investigating the cause of the crash in the westbound lanes of Highway 380 near Rockhill Road. Both of the children were secured in car seats at the time of the accident, police said.
‘Jordan was a fighter’
Rebecek said Dodson never let her illness impact the way she treated others.
“She never let her health and life circumstances bring her down,” said Rebecek, who has taken on the role of a spokesman for the family as they grieve. “She owned it and didn’t let it hold her down.”
She didn’t want to make it about her, but that didn’t mean she was going to give up on herself.
“Jordan was a fighter,” Rebecek said. “For it to end so abruptly is just indescribable. We’re all just still processing it, trying to figure out what to do next.”
She wasn’t planning on giving up any time soon, either. Dodson was in the middle of planning her wedding to Robert, Rebecek said.
“Her fiance Robert and her, their love between them was such a pure love,” Rebecek said. “They adored each other. Robert would do anything for her, obviously. I mean, he donated one of his kidneys to her.”
The family had braced themselves for the worst time and again as Dodson’s health would take bad turns, but she always pulled through, Rebecek said. But losing her in a car accident has been worse, he said.
Dodson’s family has shifted focus from planning celebrations for her wedding and the graduation of her younger sister, Jillian, to planning her funeral.
Dodson is survived by her mother Tiffanie Dodson, father Craig Dodson, and siblings Jake and Jillian.
Complaints about highway, plans for improvements
Residents have complained for years about the configuration of Highway 380, Denton County Judge Andy Eads told Star-Telegram media partner WFAA-TV.
“When you work for years to champion a road project and right when you’re about to go into construction — to have a loss of life, this just adds to the pain,” Eads told WFAA.
The Texas Department of Transportation said it has one project underway and another planned. A $21 million project currently under construction will add a raised median with left and right turn lanes on U.S. 380 from Loop 288 to U.S. 377. The project is estimated to be finished in late 2023.
Another $140 million project will begin later this year to widen the highway from four to six lanes with grade separations at major intersections from the U.S. 377/U.S. 380 intersection to the Collin County line, according to TxDOT.
This story was originally published May 25, 2021 at 2:46 PM.