Speedway mum’s legacy alive at Sprint Car Classic

HEATHER Aranyosi had always told her family she wanted to be an organ donor.

When she died following a car accident in May last year, Heather was already registered with Donate Life, and her wish was honoured, resulting in five successful transplants.

Brandon Aranyosi said his mum’s organs were saving the lives of others immediately.

“As soon as we said yes, someone ran out of the room. There was a lady downstairs who had given up, wanting to turn her machines off,” he said.

“They said, ‘you need to hold on another day,’ they did, and now that person’s at home, which is pretty cool.

“It was the best of a bad situation. It sucked, but it was good.”

The Aranyosi family have always been sprint car mad, with Heather especially passionate. Her four children and husband Ian decided her legacy would best continue at the speedway.

“Racing kept our family together. My brother, James drives a car. He started racing when he was about 12 and mum was like team manager. My sisters and I watch and work on his car,” Mr Aranyosi said.

“We started to work with Donate Life and then my brother came up with idea of building a new car for the 2020 Grand Annual Sprint Car Classic in Warrnambool.

“We called it A Race to Register to Donate, decided we’d do it properly, covered the car in Donate Life graphics, set up a stand to get registrations on the day and did a whole three-day awareness campaign.”

Having generated excitement ahead of the GASC, the Aranyosi family’s Donate Life display at the event’s fan appreciation day was busy.

“That was open for two or three hours, and we received an organ donor registration every 2.4 minutes. Pretty cool,” Mr Aranyosi said.

“It’s a possible 350 organ donations and 1000 tissue donations.”

With the backing of sponsors and supporters, family, friends and clients, Mr Aranyosi was energised to throw himself into a campaign that wasn’t “business motivated.”

A graphic designer and web developer by trade, it’s been one of his most challenging jobs.

“I did the graphics for the car and every time I worked on it, I’d just cry. To push it out was hard, with some meltdowns. It was hard to go to the racetrack without mum being there,” he said.

“But it’s good to do something that isn’t money driven, which I find a special part of it all. We’ve done our volunteers’ course and have taken a real liking to it, trying to help raise awareness and donations to change a life.

“It’s not based around money, business, gender… You don’t know who’s going to get the organs or what they’re going to do with them.”

The Aranyosi family requested to receive updates on those who have been given Heather’s organs.

“Everyone now is at home, not at full function, but on the way to full health again, which is crazy.

“Mum would be happy and super proud. She always said, ‘you can have what you want, but you can’t have my eyes. I want to keep watching you buggers’,” he laughed.

The team are looking ahead to future race events where they can continue the project. Visit facebook.com/racetoregister.