(Source) – Amid her excitement as she obtained her driver’s license on her 16th birthday, Victoria “Tori” Smith of Lakeland noticed something on the form she was about to sign.

The official state form included a line asking if she wanted to register as an organ donor. Tori asked her mother, Carmen Smith, about the option.

“She looked at the box and was like, ‘Mom, what’s this about?’” Carmen Smith said. “And I said, ‘Well, you have a choice, being a driver, to decide whether you want to donate your organs and tissue.’ And so we talked about that, and she goes, ‘Well, what would I need them for, Mom?’”

Just six years later, Tori’s checking of a box on a standard form started a process of organ donations benefiting others in Florida, including an 11-year-old girl who received her heart. Carmen Smith said the life-extending legacy helps balance the grief of losing her daughter at age 22 following a vehicle crash.

“I think knowing that her spirit lives on in other people that she helped, helps us through the heartbreak,” Carmen Smith said. “And we can hold two parts, because we are proud of her and we are broken at the same time.”

Only 36% of Polk County residents are registered as organ donors, according to LifeLink of Florida, the nonprofit organization designated to manage organ and tissue donation in the state. The rates fluctuate but have been declining in some Florida counties in recent years, a spokesperson said.

The need for donated organs is urgent, as more than 100,000 people nationwide are on waiting lists for a lifesaving transplant, LifeLink said. That includes nearly 7,000 Floridians. An average of 13 Americans die each day while needing an organ transplant, LifeLink said.

There is no age limit for organ, eye or tissue donation, and one donor can save up to eight lives and enhance the lives of up to 75 more through tissue donation, the organization said. LifeLink of Florida worked with 360 donor families across its service area in 2025, resulting in 995 organ transplants.

LifeLink encourages those who join the registry to inform family members about their decision. That relieves grieving families the burden of wondering what the person would have wanted, LifeLink Public Affairs Manager Sherri Day said.

Potential donors can register using the MyChart app, on the health app on their iPhones, online at www.mystorycontinues.com or when renewing their driver’s licenses.

Tragedy for former cheerleader

On the nine-month anniversary of Tori’s death, Carmen Smith alternately beamed and battled tears while recalling her vivacious daughter. Smith, who had given birth to two boys, said she had an early intuition that Tori would be a girl.

The décor in Tori’s bedroom was “as pink as you can get,” her mother said. She displayed a fondness for rabbits, becoming attached to a stuffed bunny she called “Nub-Nub,” reflecting her saying “Bun-Bun” backwards as she struggled to say the name.

Tori secretly carried Nub-Nub with her even as a student at Lakeland High School, her mother said. The stuffed bunny got misplaced at some point, and on Valentine’s Day in 2025 Carmen Smith bought a new stuffed bunny that looked almost identical to the original figure.

“We named him Nub-Nub 2.0,” Smith wrote in a remembrance. “She was thrilled and snuggled with him every night alongside her fur-baby, Koda.”

Tori became a cheerleader at age 4 or 5, and she continued that pursuit into high school. A photo shows her smiling with her arms stretched upward, being held aloft by the hands of fellow cheerleaders at a Lakeland High football game.

The cheerleading squad won three state championships during Tori’s time at Lakeland High, and she also cheered the Dreadnaughts to a state title in football.

After graduating from high school, Tori worked as a server at The Club at Eaglebrooke in South Lakeland and also for a time at Streamsong Golf Resort. She saved enough money to rent an apartment 11 minutes from her family home, and she planned to enter school to become a medical esthetician, Carmen Smith said.

Tori was driving to visit a friend on July 21, 2025, when her vehicle collided with another at County Road 540A and Crews Lake Road in South Lakeland. She was ejected from the vehicle and rushed to Lakeland Regional Health Medical Center with severe trauma, her mother said.

The family kept Nub-Nub 2.0 snug at Tori’s side as she remained in the trauma unit and endured multiple surgeries. She died nine days after the accident. As the end approached, her family was reminded of her registration as an organ donor.

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“Obviously, we weren’t ready for that decision when that time came, but I will tell you, it did give us a lot of peace at the time, because we knew exactly what she wanted,” Carmen Smith said. “So, when you’re trying to make these decisions on a lot of things, that was one that it was a pretty easy decision for us to make, because she had made it for us.”

‘Victoria is a lifesaver’

In keeping with tradition, the hospital staff arranged an “Honor Walk” for Tori, a solemn procession in which her hospital bed (with Nub-Nub 2.0 upon it) was rolled to an operation for the recovery of organs.

“And that was a beautiful thing,” Carmen Smith said. “We had the halls filled with friends and family that we invited. It actually got so big that we had to use caution with the hospital because so many people wanted to come. Tori was very loved in this community — a hometown hero, honestly – because of her giving and love and everything else that she did for others.”

LifeLink shares general details about organ recipients with the families of donors. Carmen Smith learned that an 11-year-old girl in Florida received Tori’s heart, and updates indicate the girl is faring well.

Tori’s liver and kidneys were transplanted into people living in Florida. LifeLink also harvests tissue, including corneas, heart valves and skin. Those donations can be used to restore sight, help with joint repairs or provide skin grafts.

“Victoria is a lifesaver,” Day said by email. “Through donation, her legacy continues in each of the transplant recipients who now have a second chance because she said ‘yes’ to donation. She is truly an amazing, selfless hero.”

The program gives recipients the option of contacting their donor’s families. Smith said she hopes she might someday meet the girl whose blood is now pumped by Tori’s heart.

“We want them to be comfortable,” Smith said. “We wouldn’t want any pressure on anybody. It’s whatever they want.”

Smith had already registered as an organ donor before Tori asked about the question on the driver’s license application. Since her daughter’s death, Smith has become an advocate for the program.

“We’ve had lots of people that have just come out and said, ‘Because of Tori, we signed up ourselves,’” she said. “And I think that’s wonderful.”

One surprise came when Tori’s former personal trainer sent a message to Smith saying that she had made a live donation of a kidney to someone in need.

Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. Follow on X @garywhite13.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Lakeland woman’s organ donations bring life to others after her death