Robin McPhearson meets with family and friends Thursday afternoon after a ceremony to raise a Donate Life flag, waving in the background, was held in memory of her son, Matthew McPhearson, who died in June but was an organ donor.

    The gift of life can come from the tragedy of death.

    That fact was made evident Thursday at Rush Foundation Hospital in Meridian with a ceremony to celebrate the unselfish contribution by a young man that has in turn saved the lives of others.

    The honoree was the late Matthew McPhearson of Chunky who along with his father, Keith, died as a result of injuries he sustained in a car accident last month. The 19-year-old Meridian Community College student donated his organs that went to, and subsequently saved the lives of people from Florida to Texas. McPhearson, whose mother Robin McPhearson works for Rush, was honored as the first person to be presented a Donate Life flag. The community initiative, the first of its kind in Meridian and the state, is part of a national initiative, Flags Across America, to honor and celebrate the hundreds of thousands of donors and recipients whose lives have been affected by organ, eye and tissue donation.

    Rush partnered with the Mississippi Organ Recovery Agency for this initiative.

    “You can see just how many people are affected by this by looking around this lobby filled with family, friends and co-workers,” said Tim Moore, Rush Foundation Hospital administrator. “It is an honor for us to fly the first flag.”

    Charlotte Mullinnix, director of corporate relations for Mississippi Organ Recovery Agency, said the flag will fly alongside the American Flag for a week in front of the The Specialty Hospital grounds facing 14th Street. Then the flag will be lowered and presented to Robin McPhearson in remembrance of this day.

    “The Meridian initiative, ‘Spirits Soar, Life Goes On,’ is part of the national initiative,” said Mullinnix. “This program also encourages others to become donors.”

    Moore said Rush was honored to raise the flag in honor of Matthew McPhearson because becoming a donor is one of the most generous decisions a person can make.