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Toby Boulet is ready to hear from a lot of people Tuesday.
April 7 is Green Shirt Day, which honours the decision by Logan Boulet — Toby’s son — to become an organ donor.
Logan registered to be a donor on his 21st birthday, shortly before he and 15 other people died as a result of the Humboldt Broncos bus crash on April 6, 2018.
The Logan Boulet Effect since has become a worldwide phenomenon, with people following the lead of the former Broncos defenceman and signing up to be organ donors. Many of them have shared the news with Toby and his wife, Bernie.
“We heard that, for the first year, I would say every day,” Toby said on Tuesday’s Greg Morgan Morning Show. “My wife and I, sometimes (we’d hear it) five times a day … (in) text messages, cards in the mail, phone calls to our house, emails (or) tweets. Then it slowed down a bit and then for Green Shirt Day last year, it came back up and this year again, we’re getting messages all the time.
“I got a message from a gentleman in Switzerland yesterday on Twitter that he signed up and his two boys signed up because of Logan Boulet.”
Logan Boulet signed up because of Ric Suggitt, who trained Boulet and three other SJHL players.
After Suggitt died in June of 2017 following a cerebral hemorrhage, his family donated his organs. That resonated with Logan.
“Later that summer, Logan and I were hanging out on our deck like normal and Logan just out of the blue said, ‘I’m going to register to be an organ donor,’ ” Toby recalled. “I said, ‘What?’ And he said, ‘I’m going to be an organ donor. I’m going to register on my birthday.’
“I said, ‘Well, that’s awesome. Nobody’s going to want your organs when you’re 80,’ and we both laughed. He said, ‘No, I’m serious.’ I said, ‘That’s good.’ ”
Within a year, Logan’s act would help save the lives of six people who received his organs.
Toby remembers the day he and his wife agreed to honour their son’s decision during a conversation with medical personnel.
“My wife offered Logan’s organs and they looked at us like they were stunned: ‘Nobody does that,’ ” Toby said. “And Bernie turned to me and she said, ‘He won’t need them anymore where he’s going.’
“If my wife can do that in our darkest day, then I’m sure people who are today hanging out with not much to do can certainly register online. At least give it a thought. Think about it.”
Toby said the goal for Green Shirt Day 2020 is to get as many people as possible to sign up online. Because a lot of people are at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Boulets would like residents to go to the Green Shirt Day website and follow the link to the Canadian Blood Services page.
“From there, it’s just boom, boom, boom,” Toby said. “You pick your province, tap the button and away you go. It’s awesome.”
The Boulets and other families marked the second anniversary of the crash Monday, but did so in separate groups due to the pandemic.
Toby said the moment of silence at 4:50 p.m. — the approximate time at which the crash happened — was tough for him and Bernie, but their mood changed at around 8:30 p.m.
“The Leicht family (who lost Jacob in the crash) set up a Zoom meeting for all the Bronco families,” Toby said. “So Kelly Schatz (whose son, Logan, was killed) got his guitar out and we listened to some songs and we hung out together as a family for about 45 minutes.
“It was really nice, a nice way to end the day.”