ALTAMONT, Utah (ABC4) — April is National Donate Life Month, and one Utah boy and his family did just that after a tragic accident took his life on Wednesday, April 26. 

Last Sunday, Roper Bagley, a 14-year-old from Duchesne County, was riding a side-by-side when it flipped, pinning him underneath for over 17 minutes. First responders transported him to Primary Children’s Hospital where he died three days later from a lack of oxygen to his brain.

“He’s a very sweet little man and we’re going to miss him so much,” said Roper Bagley’s aunts Bridget Sursa and Racquel Dastrup. 

His parents, Lizzie Walters and Shay Bagley, decided to donate his organs.  

Roper Bagley, 14, died on April 26 following a tragic accident. His family donated his organs to help save others’ lives saying it is what he would have wanted. (Courtesy of Bridget Sursa)

Dastrup said the organ donation “was the one thing that brought [her] comfort. “Whoever gets those twinkling baby blue eyes I want to meet that person because I want to see that twinkle and that mischief again,” she said.

Family members said Roper Bagley, with his love for the outdoors and his funny personality, will live on. Dastrup said she has received messages from other organ recipients who honor the bravery of his parents.

“We know without a doubt this is what Roper wanted,” said Sursa. “He wanted to save other lives and that’s the way he was.”

On Monday evening, May 1, the Legacy Performing Arts Academy in Duchesne County will be hosting a benefit in his honor at Altamont High School at 7 p.m.