In this blog, John Kempe, shares about his motivation to raise critical funds for brain aneurysms.

Sadly, this past October 2022, John lost his best friend in the world, Tom. At just 30 years old he suddenly passed away from what’s thought to have been a brain aneurysm. After reading about the story of how the Bee foundation was started, he was reminded a lot of his loss. John notes, “Tom and I grew up together like brothers, we were only a few months apart in age and it was this tragedy that made me want to bring back my charity event in hopes of raising money for a new cause, The Bee Foundation.”

As well as a secondary focus of honoring organ donors, John’s friend Tom was a big advocate for organ donation and in his passing he was responsible for saving six lives because he was a registered donor. Two great causes that cast a wide net within the community and affect many people.

Tom Hayne’s Story

On October 17th 2022, my lifelong friend Tom Haynes collapsed with little to no warning signs due to a bleed on the brain. Despite the best efforts of everyone around him, Tom never regained consciousness and tragically passed away two days later at just thirty years old.

Tom was just such an incredible guy. An absolutely infectious soul to be around and brought a smile to everyone’s face. It was always easy to see that he really was everyone’s best friend. With his outrageous eyebrows and a laugh that resembled yogi bear, he will forever be missed by all who had the pleasure to know him.

Tom leaves behind a legacy worthy to call him a hero. In his passing, Tom is responsible for saving six lives because he made sure he was a registered organ donor. Six strangers, with friends and families of their own, get the chance to live on thanks to Tom.

Tom is the inspiration behind this event as we work together to fundraise for the The Bee Foundation. Their charity specializes in researching brain aneurysms, looking for signs of early detection and prevention to hopefully help put an end to such brain abnormalities.