As part of an annual effort to shed light on the need for organ donors, a heart transplant recipient and the mother of his donor will be heading to the Rose Parade in Pasadena this coming New Year’s Day.
That recipient, Ted Jung, was in San Francisco Wednesday to help Leslie Barratt put the finishing touches on a portrait of her son, Joseph Barratt, at an event hosted by the Sutter Health California Pacific Medical Center.
The portrait will be part of the Rose Parade float that both will be riding on New Year’s Day.
Joseph Barratt was the victim of a hit-and-run driver in the East Bay in 2020 and is the donor of Jung’s heart. After knowing her for years, Jung said that Barratt is one of the strongest people he’s ever known.
“Now that I know my situation, if the roles were reversed, I’m not sure I could be as strong as she is,” Jung said.
When Jung’s heart failed in February 2020, he wasn’t sure how long it would take to get a transplant.
Around the same time, Barratt was dealing with a different kind of heart-stopping tragedy across the bay in Concord: her son had been rushed to the hospital and was not likely to survive.
“He was the most beautiful soul you'd ever meet. He was kind. He was non-judgmental. To know Joe was to love Joe,” Barratt said. “You could not help but love him.”
Her son had just applied for a California I.D., and had checked the box for “organ donor.”
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“At that time it was so hard, because they’re picking apart your son,” Barratt said. “But just knowing what was given helped so many people lead a productive and healthy life, and it gives them a second chance.”
Jung said he’s happy for the gift of life he was given by the 18-year-old.
“If Joe, her son, didn’t check that box, you know, there’s a good chance I probably wouldn’t be here,” he said.
Losing her son has been painful, Barratt said. But thanks to her son’s decision, the support she’s received from the entire organ donation network as well as her friendship with Jung, Barrat said she knows her son will not be forgotten.
