5-year-old honored; donates organs following fatal crash
BATON ROUGE - A 5-year-old boy is being remembered as a hero after his organs were donated following a fatal crash earlier this week.
West Baton Rouge Sheriff's Deputies escorted the body of Xander Benoit from Our Lady of the Lake Hospital to his home in Lafayette Saturday evening.
"He would have loved seeing police in front of us with lights and sirens and we were following him," said Xander's grandfather Lee Benoit.
Xander died from injuries sustained in an accident with an 18-wheeler on I-10 Tuesday afternoon.
Saturday morning, Xander's family attended an organ flag raising in front of OLOL as his organs were being recovered.
"We fly the flag during the donation process as we find homes for these gifts," said Samantha Miller with the Louisiana Organ Procurement Agency.
Xander's family says they knew he would want to be an organ donor.
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LOPA officials say there are nine patients waiting to receive Xander's organs.
Lee says Xander wanted to be a police officer. On Saturday, that wish was granted as he was named an honorary police officer and sheriff's deputy.
While Xander has passed away, his spirit is living on in the life-saving gifts he leaves behind.