The "Logan Boulet" Effect Spreads to Pittsburgh

Logan Boulet, one of the 16 passengers who died when the team bus of the Humboldt Broncos, a Canadian junior hockey team, was in a crash just over four years ago, grew up a Sidney Crosby fan in his hometown of Lethbridge, Alberta.

For his 13th birthday, which fell around the same time as the 2010 Winter Olympics, Logan wanted a Team Canada jersey. But he didn't want just any jersey; he wanted No. 87's.
"We said, 'Do you want a Jarome Iginla one because he's a Calgary guy?' But no, he wanted a Crosby jersey," said Bernie Boulet, Logan's mom. "He proudly wore it throughout the Olympics to watch all the games in Vancouver, and he was cheering them on in the Gold Medal Game when Sid scored the amazing goal and the whole nation cheered."
As a young boy, Logan also proudly wore his "Sidney Cowsby" T-shirt from COWS, a Canadian ice cream company that has a location in Halifax, Nova Scotia, just outside of Crosby's hometown of Cole Harbour.
"We bought him the shirt when he was 8, and he wore it until it didn't fit him anymore," said Toby Boulet, Logan's dad. "It's in his little box at home still, and we've kept it for all these years now."
Logan would've loved to be cheering on Crosby and the Penguins in their game on Tuesday against Edmonton with his parents and sister, Mariko. The team hosted the Boulet family - who were in attendance with Dr. George Mazeriegos, Chief of Pediatric Transplantation at UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, and Chair of the Starzl Network - for their Pittsburgh Penguins Fans Saves Lives night as part of Donate Life Month.
The Boulets came to Pittsburgh to share Logan's legacy, and further promote the importance and awareness of organ and tissue donation by working with Citrone 33 and the Starzl Network, whose mission is to unite big data, technology, patient advocacy, and transplant thought leaders to deliver the best possible care and develop new, scalable solutions to pediatric transplantation's most challenging problems.
When telling their story about how they became connected with organ and tissue donation, the Boulet family's motto is: "Register, tell your family, and be inspired."
"I like to say, be inspired by anyone. It doesn't have to be Logan, and it doesn't have to be someone famous. It can be your grandfather or your grandmother," Toby said. "Just be inspired. Take two minutes, register, and talk to your family."
For Logan, that inspiration came from his mentor and coach, Ric Suggitt, who suddenly passed away from a cerebral hemorrhage in 2017 at age 58. Suggitt was an organ donor and when he passed, his organs went to several recipients. Afterward, Logan told his family that he had also decided to become an organ donor, and when the defenseman turned 21 on March 2, 2018, he officially signed his card to honor his beloved trainer and friend.
Just four weeks later, after suffering fatal injuries from the bus crash in Saskatchewan, Canada, Logan also passed away a hero. Six people received the gift of life from Logan, and as that news spread, it sparked action.
Logan inspired over 150,000 Canadians to register to be an organ donor in the largest registration event in Canadian history, now known worldwide as "The Logan Boulet Effect." Today, the family continues to honor Logan's legacy by encouraging people to register as organ donors in his memory.
"My biggest point that I always like to make is to have conversations with your family about wanting to be an organ donor, or even just to have a conversation about organ donation so that your family knows," Bernie said. "So if you're ever in a point where you're in a tragedy, like we were, your family can make that decision without having to worry about what you wanted for your wishes."
Prior to Tuesday's game, the Center for Organ Recovery & Education (CORE) held a flag raising event to honor the Boulet family and to encourage organ donor registration. There, the family was presented with a Donate Life flag signed by Penguins players in show of the local hockey community's support.
"This is our first time in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh has been an amazing city for us. The people have been very kind and very supportive," Bernie said. "Before, Pittsburgh was the city of the Penguins, the Steelers, and the Pirates. But now, we know so much more about this wonderful city."
CORE hopes that the members of this same community will be encouraged to register in Logan's honor.
"The Pittsburgh community helped make possible a record-breaking 700 life-saving transplants in 2021," said Susan Stuart, president and CEO, CORE. "Coming together in April to celebrate the gifts of organ, tissue, and cornea donation, and to honor those generous donors who offer the gift of life, is something we look forward to every year. We're humbled to have the Boulet family here to join us this year for the occasion."
The Boulets thought they were just getting a tour of CORE's headquarters and telling their story while they were there, so the flag raising came as a lovely surprise to them. Bernie was also gifted a Penguins jersey with No. 27, Logan's hockey number, and "Donate Life" on the back, that she proudly wore to Tuesday's game.
"It's just a wonderful gesture by people who we don't really know, but are in the same boat and are going in the same direction," Toby said. "It was just emotional and different, but it's different because every story is different. Everything's new. We didn't expect this today, so it makes it really special."
It was just as special for Toby and Bernie that their 28-year-old daughter, Mariko, was able to make the trip to Pittsburgh and share how she has been affected by Logan's passing. There were six families that had two children, and now they have one. The tragedy has affected so many in immeasurable ways, but it has especially impacted Mariko. She and her parents take some comfort in the fact that they can help make a difference by inspiring people to take that step of registering to become an organ donor.
"Our biggest hope is that it becomes a ray of sunshine out of a tragedy, and that we are able to spread sunshine from something that was difficult and very hard to move through," Bernie said. "That we can make a difference and give hope to families and to people who are waiting for transplants, and making a difference by increasing the number of people who are registering to be donors."