Honor walk pays tribute to Lincoln man who made organ donation
By ALYSSA JOHNSON – Lincoln Journal Star, Neb. (TNS)
Brian Travis wasn’t the type of dad you would often hear at his children’s events, but he was the guy you’d always see.
Brian Travis
Molly Travis (from left), Mindy Travis, Brianne Travis, Matthew Travis and Brian Travis.
Whether he was tracking stats in the back row of the bleachers at a baseball game or dancing on stage in a rockstar outfit for a father-daughter dance, Travis was always there for his family.
“He lived for family and his kids,” said Mindy Travis, Brian’s wife.
Even in his final days, Brian Travis gave his all. After he died Dec. 5 — 12 days after the 48-year-old Lincoln man went into cardiac arrest — his family donated his organs.
The community rallied around the Travis family for the donation as hundreds of people, including teammates, coaches and friends, filled the hospital hallway during an honor walk that same day at Bryan East Campus.
“I didn’t know how much impact that he had or we had on people,” Mindy said.
Kara Cordell, spokeswoman for Live On Nebraska, said that honor walks occur every time a family undergoes an organ donation. The final tribute includes the donor’s caregivers and loved ones lining the hallways of the hospital as the donor is transported to the operating room.
“Legacy is important to donor families,” Cordell said. “Whether in front of a small group of staff members or with dozens of people present, the significance of the donor’s life and their impact on others is recognized and celebrated.”
Cordell said the walk brings pride and comfort to those saying goodbye to their loved ones, whether it’s friends, coworkers or others close to the family.
Organ donations aren’t common, Cordell said, because donor candidates must be in a hospital and on ventilation prior to the organ donation surgery. In Nebraska, there have been 111 successful organ donation cases this year. Of those, only five have been at Bryan East.
Outside of the hospital, hockey sticks were set out by those who knew Travis through the Lincoln Junior Stars, where his son Matthew plays hockey. The online tribute “Sticks out for Brian” was circulated on social media.
“You don’t know how many people care or have your back,” Mindy said. “It’s been overwhelming, but I’m grateful because I don’t know how to do this without them.”
Mindy and Brian’s relationship was built on support, love and their contrasting personalities, she said. Despite Mindy’s independent nature after losing both her parents at a young age, Brian was steadfast in her life.
“I’m pretty strong-willed and hard-headed, and I would push to see if he would break,” Mindy said. “He never would and I could never understand why he stayed with me.”
Brian was the parent who read to their three kids each night and could be counted on for helping with any crafts.
“He would always make the kids and I homemade Valentine cards,” Mindy said. “He did that when we dated as well. My birthday card was always homemade.”
Mindy first met Brian in Columbia, Missouri, while attending college. After he proposed on a bike trail, the two got married and moved to Nebraska in 2003. After 11 years of living in Kearney, the family moved to Lincoln, where they would raise their sports-loving family of five.
Brian and Mindy were determined to make it to every event, whether it was track meets, hockey games or dance recitals. He even participated in both their daughters’ dance recitals several times.
“He would go and learn the steps, and then secretly, he would practice them downstairs,” Mindy said. “He did it because his kids wanted him to do it, and he took pride in their sports.”
His love for children wasn’t limited to his own. Mindy said Brian treated other kids as if they were his, offering unwavering support to the families around him.
Dave Quevedo and his wife, Joey, met the Travis family nearly 10 years ago as their children grew up playing flag football, baseball and hockey together. Mindy and Joey would run the events together and Brian could often be found chalking lines and helping with warmups.
“We were always together at different events because of our boys,” Dave Quevedo said. “Brian was always around.”
Brian was the kind of parent to keep track of each player’s stats and which opponents their team would be going up against. He’d sit toward the back with his paper book during the baseball games until the stats were digitized and kept electronically.
“He probably actually got to enjoy the games at that point,” Quevedo said.
In addition to working in insurance at Continental Western Group, Brian became a pedicab driver in 2018 to supplement the family’s income. He would often donate plasma to ensure they could make ends meet and to provide the best opportunities for his family.
For years, Quevedo would watch his best friend work hard to make sure he could always provide the best for his family.
“He was that amazing human,” Dave said. “It sucks. Why are the good ones the ones that are dying so young?”
On the evening of Nov. 23, Brian was working as a pedicab driver around downtown Lincoln after the Nebraska-Wisconsin volleyball game. It was at about 9:30 p.m. when he collapsed at the Embassy Suites hotel. Bystanders performed CPR and his heart was shocked twice, but he never woke up.
Mindy still doesn’t understand what happened to Brian, who seemed healthy and had a very active lifestyle. In the weeks after his death, it’s been difficult for her to come home expecting to see her upbeat husband and not seeing him there.
The Quevedos are just a few of their close friends making sure Mindy and her children never feel alone. In November, Joey Quevedo started a GoFundMe to help cover medical expenses.
“It’s so hard for me to accept help,” Mindy said. “I’m good at giving it, so to receive it is so hard for me because it makes me feel guilty.”
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