Katie Richins was known for being kind and generous. Her family and friends say she never met a stranger. “She had the incredible ability to overlook anyone’s flaws and always offered kind words and encouragement,” her cousin Becca Crunkelton says.
The former Habersham Central High School student was also known as a hard worker. She was a familiar face around Habersham County. Many knew Katie from her jobs at the Wendy’s restaurant and Fred’s discount store in Clarkesville and from Lowe’s in Cornelia. It wasn’t often you would find her alone. But on August 17 State Troopers say she was alone when her car ran off the road on Scenic Drive in Toccoa and slammed into a tree.
She had just gotten her driver’s license the week before.
Katie was critically injured in the wreck. She was rushed to the hospital and was admitted into the Intensive Care Unit at Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville. Four days later, as she lay there in ICU clinging to life, Katie Richins turned 19 years old.
Buoyed by the prayers and support of the local community that knew and loved her, Katie’s family and friends held onto hope she would survive. They released balloons into the sky outside Fred’s to celebrate her birthday. They posted updates on her condition on social media. They looked to a future with Katie still in it.
Then, their hope faded.
On August 23, the doctors declared Katie brain dead. Doctors kept her on medical support for 24 hours as her organs were matched to people who needed them.
Through her final act of loving kindness, the Cornelia teen who never met a stranger brought life-saving hope to strangers she will never meet.
This past Saturday, family and friends gathered for an Honor Walk at the hospital where Katie spent the last week of her life. Friends and hospital staff lined the hallways as Katie’s family walked behind her as her body was wheeled into the operating room where doctors waited to recover her organs.
“The LifeLink representatives told us that it was the largest crowd that they had ever seen at an Honor Walk,” Crunkelton says. “Every single person that showed up had been positively impacted by Katie in some way. She definitely left her mark on the world.”
And she did so in a big way.
Thanks to Katie’s organ and tissue donation, upwards of seventy people are getting a new lease on life. Many are also getting a glimpse into the life of the young woman Crunkelton says “never thought twice” about being an organ donor.
Transplant doctors were given a notecard presented to them by Katie’s family. It was barely bigger than an index card but the note spoke volumes about the enormity of Katie Richins’ spirit.
Katie “gravitated to a world where the impossible was possible. She was loved, and she loved back unconditionally.”
“Katie was generous, compassionate, and kind. Never malice or angry,” her uncle wrote. “She would meet people and instantly made new friends, regardless if you thought you needed a friend.”
Describing Katie as “responsible” and a “hard worker” he went on to say that she loved music and concerts. “She loved people and animals equally. Especially dogs. She was a huge fan of Harry Potter.”
Katie “gravitated to a world where the impossible was possible. She was loved, and she loved back unconditionally.”
Her uncle concluded the note saying, “She loved to give hugs, since she was a little girl, there wasn’t a limit on how many hugs you could get from Katie. If she could, she would be hugging you right now.”
In the absence of her hugs, Katie’s loved ones now find comfort in knowing that her legacy lives on in the lives of those she helped save. “Though we’d give anything to bring Katie home with us, healed and whole,” says Crunkelton, “we’re so glad that she is able to help other people and families that are hurting.”
Katie Richins’ funeral was held Wednesday.
A Go Fund Me page has been set up to help her family with medical and funeral expenses. To donate, click here.
