蜜桃影视

New York City teacher鈥檚 aide Ethan Holder fell victim to gun violence while walking home from school in October, collapsing in front of a neighborhood deli with injuries that would prove to be fatal. 

The 19-year-old educator is now being honored by families across the country for his final act of service: Saving the lives of six strangers across four states through organ donation. 

鈥淗e always gave himself and this will be the ultimate giving,鈥� Ethan鈥檚 father Roy Holder, 52, told 蜜桃影视 of the family鈥檚 decision for him to be an organ donor. 鈥淲e have parts of him living, walking, loving and breathing in other people. So really, it wasn’t a difficult decision. It’s the spirit of who he was,鈥� Roy said.

Black Americans make up 28.5% of candidates awaiting organ transplants 鈥� the largest group of minorities in need. Yet according to the most recent data available from the , only 12.9% of 2020 donors were Black.

A spokesperson for , a nonprofit organ procurement organization, said that Ethan saved the lives of six people in their 40s through 70s in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Michigan.

鈥淟iveOnNY is humbled and honored to be the stewards of these precious gifts on behalf of Ethan and his family so that he and others may Live On,鈥� said LiveOnNY president and chief executive officer Leonard Achan in a statement.

Growing up in a family of educators, Ethan always loved the idea of teaching and planned to continue his education after graduating from Kingsborough Community College to become a classroom teacher, said Roy. 

鈥淚 taught when I was his age until I was 24. My mother was also a teacher and my father was a principal,鈥� Roy said. 鈥淲hen my father passed in 2019, I think [Ethan] felt like it was his legacy to be an educator and it would make us proud 鈥� and it does, it absolutely does.鈥�

Ethan, who worked with nonverbal autistic children from kindergarten to second grade, was admired as a natural-born educator by his colleagues at Brooklyn鈥檚 Public School 771K, a school for children with special needs. 

鈥淲hen we spoke to people he worked with, they expressed how well he interacted with his students,鈥� Roy said. 鈥淟ike I said, he wasn’t working for the money. He was working because he wanted to.鈥�

Roy and Ethan鈥檚 mother Beverly John-Holder, 54, also talked about their son鈥檚 death, having allegedly been targeted by another 19-year-old. 

鈥淵ou have to control the guns themselves. How does it get into the neighborhoods,鈥� Beverly said, emphasizing that Ethan had no criminal record.

鈥淚’m a realist and I don’t know if the U.S. will ever get rid of their guns,鈥� Roy said. 鈥淕uns are going to exist but children don’t have to pick them up. Children need options. They need alternatives. They need hope. They need love. They need care.鈥�

Outside of the classroom, Ethan was passionate about writing and performing his own rap music.

鈥淚t鈥檚 something he put aside when he started working with kids. However, his teaching job made him just as excited and it made my heart proud to know that he found his purpose,鈥� Roy said.

Roy plans to continue Ethan鈥檚 passion through The Music of Ethan鈥檚 Heart, a foundation dedicated to funding educational resources for public schools 鈥� particularly those that plan on cutting music immersion therapy for autistic children.

鈥淲e did a fundraiser called The Music of Ethan鈥檚 Heart where we raised $18,000. We had $12,000 to go to the school he worked at鈥�[and] the other $6,000 is being used to start the foundation,鈥� Roy said.

鈥淲e鈥檝e got pretty ambitious and lofty goals, but the fact that we鈥檝e been able to get support from our community shows how much they loved our son and the work he was doing,鈥� Roy said.

As Roy and Beverly reflected on Ethan鈥檚 legacy as a life-saving hero, they emphasized his abundance of 鈥渆motional intelligence.鈥� 

鈥淗e treated himself the same way he treated others 鈥� with respect and care and without judgment and limits,鈥� Roy said.

Simply put, Beverly said 鈥渉e would be proud.鈥�

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