Parents of man killed in head-on crash say he’ll live on through organ donation
By Rosalia Fodera
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RALEIGH, North Carolina (WRAL) — A tragic and deadly crash in Wake County killed two people and sent a baby to the hospital in April after a pickup truck collided with a U-Haul.
Peter Drago was the young man driving that U-Haul, and his parents tell WRAL his memory will live on through others, specifically through organ donation.
Drago’s family says he was a gifted artist, caring and making a mark on the world.
“He was going to go places,” Peter’s mother said. “He was loving life and it’s just it’s a tremendous loss for everyone who loved him.”
Drago was driving a U-Haul filled with his grandmother’s things from Florida back home to New Jersey when he was hit, head-on.
“He’s never coming home,” Michael Drago said. “He was on his way but he didn’t make it.”
According to the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, a woman driving a pickup truck crossed the center line on Highway 98. Peter Drago died at the scene. The woman and her baby were taken to the hospital, and the woman later died.
“His charm and personality would carry him through as well,” Michael Drago said. “This was all lost, this was all lost.”
Peter Drago did not fulfill every dream he had on earth, but his family says he’s a hero with his tissue donation.
“These people have a little bit of Peter in them, and they go and have children just a tiny piece of Pete goes on,” his mother said.
His tissue will help 75 people with things such as cornea transplants, skin and heart valves.
Taylor Anderton with Carolina Donor Services says tissue donations are vital.
“Also goes and saves the lives of pediatric heart patients,” she said. “The veins can be used in a variety of different cardiac repairs.”
Drago’s family finds comfort knowing a little piece of him lives on in others.
“We’re also making sure that he could continue to help people,” his dad said.
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