Legacy lives on: Runner continues his journey to help others after tragic accident

Continuing his legacy to help others through the donation of his organs, Grady Lambert was removed from life support early Friday morning following an honor walk commemorating his selfless sacrifice as he was wheeled to the operating room for his final procedure at Northwest Texas Hospital in Amarillo.

Lambert was continuing his coast-to-coast journey, which started in mid-March as he started his run across the country from Cannon Beach, Oregon, to Hilton Head, South Carolina, to bring awareness and raise funds for frontline healthcare workers.

That journey came to a tragic end last Sunday, as a truck traveling west on FM 2575 about 10 miles outside of Amarillo, whose driver was blinded by the sun, hit Lambert, who had been running beside the road, leaving him with life-threating injuries. Lambert never regained consciousness after the accident. He had been running for about 165 days and logged about 2,500 miles on his quest to run across the country.

His parents, Julie and Mark Lambert, were devastated as they learned about his fate and rushed to be by his side. They made the difficult decision to remove him from life support, knowing that he had no chance to recover but took some solace from the fact that his decision to donate his organs would ensure that part of him would continue life for others.

'Grady's mission will continue'

Julie Lambert, who last saw her son in Tucumcari, New Mexico, said that when she last spoke to Grady, he was surprised that he had received so little media attention for his cause. She said that Grady would probably bemoan the irony that it took him getting hit by a truck for the media to pay attention to his cause.

“Nonetheless, while tragic what happened to Grady, his mission does continue,” Julie Lambert said.

His father, Mark, said it's sad that bad news gets much more attention than good news too often.

"One thing we are excited about is that Grady’s mission will continue on a couple of fronts, with a scholarship fund set up in his name and a dedication of funds in his name,” Mark Lambert said.

Continuing Grady’s mission as an Eagle Scout who worked to get a library set up at Lincoln Academy Alternative School in Stillwater, Oklahoma, his family has decided to take that project another step to set up a scholarship fund that will go to a graduate of the school who chooses to go on to serve others in the medical field.

As part of his Eagle Scout project, Grady had found out that the school did not have a library, so he worked to get grant money and raised funds through other means, such as a book fair, along with donations to get a library set up for the school.

His father said that Grady, who worked as a bartender at the Rambler Bar in Portland, Oregon, before setting forth on his run, was greatly affected by his time in the city in which he saw a lot of political strife, much of which related to the COVID-19 pandemic that was dividing people.

“It really bothered Grady, and so a big part of his mission was to promote people caring for one another and to be open-minded to other people and to listen to their stories,” Mark Lambert said. “He just wanted people to be compassionate to their fellow man.”

Julie Lambert said that Grady had started running about 8 months before making the decision to run across the country but felt the way he had picked it up and the distance that he was going that he was a natural runner. She said that he had run in both the Portland and Eugene marathons before taking on this arduous task.

“The first time he put on running shoes, he ran 10 miles,” Julie Lambert said. “I was like, who does that? He had always talked about running across the country. So, I kind of knew it was going to happen at some point. And of course, once again, he didn’t run it by us. He just said, ‘This is what I’m doing.’”

Worry over danger, preparations

With Grady's family trying to have him hold off on starting his trek across the country due to readiness concerns, Grady’s dad said that in no uncertain terms that his son said he was going to start his run regardless of funding or preparedness. He was starting the run, even if it meant dumpster diving if it came to that.

Seeing their son off March 16 in Cannon Beach, the family was worried about his preparations for the run. On his journey, he traveled with a jogging stroller, which carried all his necessities, including camping equipment for his stops across the country.

“That was a hard day, watching your son leave on something that you knew was dangerous,” Julie Lambert said. “We recognized the danger of what he was doing.”

His mom said that she had a conversation with Grady in January about the risks of his decision to run across the country and what to do if something goes wrong with him not making it.

“He said, 'Mom, I am finishing this race one way or another. If I do not finish it myself, would you take my ashes and spread them from wherever I end all the way to Hilton Head?' ” Julie Lambert said. “So, Mark and I will have an epic road trip and spread Grady’s ashes along the way.”

That is an undertaking that the Lamberts plan to take in the near future, but no date has been set.

“I envision that when we make that road trip, we will stop at small hospitals and health care clinics along the way, just as Grady was,” Mark Lambert said.

Along the route, Grady Lambert posted about his journey on Instagram, making his way all the way down through California, across Arizona and New Mexico, then into Texas. He had raised thousands of dollars for his cause and took pictures with many he met on his trek.

Speaking about the abrupt end of Grady's run across the country, Julie Lambert said that her son would not have wanted to be able to continue his run.

“Grady would have never wanted to be injured and alive to the point that he could not finish his run; if he was going to go out, he would have wanted to go out big,” Julie Lambert said.

'We felt something bad had happened'

The family said that they tracked Grady’s progress on his run on the Life 360 cellphone app to check in and see where he was at any point of time as he went from place to place. It was through this app that on the tragic date of his accident, his mother Julie received the startling notice that it had him traveling at 96 miles per hour, which led her to feel that something was wrong.

“We tried calling him because we felt something bad had happened,“ Julie Lambert said.

When zooming in on the app, Julie could see that his location was listed as being at the Carson County Sheriff’s Department, to which they called right away to see what was going on with their son; initially, they did not have any information. In a matter of a few minutes, the department called them back to tell them about their son’s untimely accident. After speaking with an officer that was on the scene of the accident, the family was informed that their son was in critical condition.

Within minutes, the family had packed up and drove five hours to Amarillo from their home in Stillwater, Oklahoma, staying in contact with the hospital as to the condition of their son.

While visiting the scene of Grady’s tragic accident to see if other effects of his son were still at the location, his father was met by the first person who arrived on the scene within minutes of his accident, who tried to give aid and comfort to his son. He said that the idea that someone was with him in his time of need was comforting to him and his wife and that he was not alone or feeling any pain.

A message of compassion and kindness

As he made his final journey in life with the Donate Life flag draped across his body early Friday morning, Grady’s name was announced across the hospital intercom as friends, family and staff lined the halls to pay their respects for his lifegiving donation to help others as an organ donor. Following the surgery, the flag was raised in his honor in a ceremony outside of the hospital.

Asked if they had any other thoughts about their son, the Lamberts were hopeful about his life’s message.

“Grady was all about asking people to tell their story; his conversation starter was to ask people two (questions) about themselves; name three things that you like about yourself and what is your favorite movie?“ Mark Lambert said. “Grady was deeply loved not by just his family but almost everybody he came into contact with.”

He said that if people would like to help to continue Grady’s mission, they can donate to https://smc-foundation.org/grady/. Grady's run across the country was also documented on his Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/runwithme2022/?hl=en.

Grady is survived by two brothers, Lee Van, 29, who lives in California, and Stone, 27, who lives in Edmond.

The family said they will always remember their son the same way as everyone else he met throughout his life, as a warm, compassionate young man who was always thinking about others more than himself.

“Consider being more compassionate and kinder; can you be as an individual more compassionate or more kind?” Julie Lambert said.

As of press time, the family gave an update that three of Grady's donated organs have already been placed into patient recipients.

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Runner continues his journey to help others after tragic accident