A South Carolina teenager was one of 35 organ donors honored on the annual Donate Life Rose Parade Float this January. Keegan Johnson’s likeness was memorialized with a floragraph, an artistic floral portrait. His parents, brothers and extended family came early to help decorate and place his floragraph front and center.

The floragraph was made possible by We Are Sharing Hope SC and Donate Life South Carolina, with sponsorship from Bridge to Life.

In February 2020, 17-year-old Keegan Johnson, a junior in high school and three-sport athlete with a bright smile suddenly died from an undiagnosed case of bacterial meningitis.

Because he was a donor, his major organs were used to save four lives. His tissue and bones, doctors told the family, helped countless others.

“To see him on that float is amazing, be a part of something big and that’s what he always wanted, to do something big. That’s him,” said Joey Miller, Keegan’s dad.

The Johnson Miller Family now heads a mission to raise awareness about organ donation, and they have created a scholarship in his name.

Now celebrating its 19th year, the Donate Life Rose Parade Float continues to inspire people to register as organ donors. Each year the float features floragraphs of deceased donors while living donors and recipients ride or walk beside the float.

The 2022 float titled “Courage to Hope” shares the courage shown by donor families, living donors and waiting recipients, represented by the winged lion of Piazza San Marco (or Saint Mark’s Square) in Venice, Italy.

Keegan Johnson: 2022 South Carolina Organ Donor Honoree (Presented by his father)

The majestic lion holds a book that represents the knowledge that both donor families and grateful recipients share about the importance of saying “YES” to donation.

This year’s float won the “Extraordinaire Award”.