Janae Moore|Tissue Donor
Janae Susanne Moore
(October 3, 1992—July 10, 2013)
“You hurt every day, but you have to power through it because talking about Janae’s accident could save someone else from going through what my family had to go through.” –Jozi Moore, sister to Janae
Janae Moore was a natural leader, an outstanding athlete and a dedicated student. In high school, she played softball and basketball and was a member of the National Honor Society. She was recruited to play basketball at Dickinson State University where she was awarded the Theodore Roosevelt Honors Leadership Scholarship. Janae was an aspiring lawyer.
At the age of 20, Janae was in a car accident that took her life the morning of July 10, 2013.
Janae was used to driving the isolated roads stretching from Sidney, Montana through the Devonian-Mississippi Bakken formation along the Yellowstone River. That day, Janae was a mere 20 minutes into her two-hour drive from Sidney to Fort Peck when she lost control of her Ford F-250 truck, veered off the road and flipped several times.
The roads were clear. She was driving within the speed limit and she was wearing her seatbelt. Janae was texting while she was driving. Because text messaging requires visual, manual and cognitive attention from the driver, it is considered by far the most dangerous distraction.
Before she passed, Janae made the decision to be an organ donor. After her death, her family wanted to honor Janae’s wishes because they knew that is what she would have wanted. Janae’s corneas helped two men regain their sight. From her tissue, a total of 32 grafts have been distributed for transplantation to various hospitals to help patients in need.
Janae’s family shares her story and the lessons learned by visiting schools and speaking on the dangers of distracted driving. The family has also established scholarships in her name.