'God had a different plan:' Green Country family mourning kidney transplant recipient killed in Muskogee Turnpike crash

The family of a kidney transplant recipient is now grieving after their son was killed in a crash on the Muskogee Turnpike.

The crash killed Stevie Ray Carter and passenger Baylor Butler, and sent the driver, Johnnie Durossette, to the hospital.

Carter’s family says it still doesn’t feel real that he’s gone.

He was calm, polite, and hardworking, and had just started a job he really liked.

About Stevie Ray

Stevie Ray was the oldest child of Jeff Carter and Angie Gates, and had three younger brothers and two younger sisters.

He died just two days before his 27th birthday.

His family says he loved working with livestock and spending time with his loved ones.

"He loved his brothers and sisters. As a matter of fact, just a couple of weeks ago, he was on the phone with [his brother] Vann trying to help him with some math,” said Gates. “He encouraged his brothers and sisters."

New Lease on Life

The first time News On 6 talked to Carter was in 2023 before he received his kidney transplant.

RELATED: Green Country brothers all have same rare condition, 2 looking for kidney donors

Carter and his three brothers all had Alport Syndrome, a rare condition which causes a loss in kidney function over time.

This meant he needed a kidney transplant, which he got in May of 2024, that changed his life.

"Having the freedom to not have to worry about hooking up on time for dialysis in order to wake up at a certain time, I was able to attend a lot more family activities,” said Carter in 2024.

His parents say there was a noticeable positive change in Carter since he got his transplant.

PAST COVERAGE: Webbers Falls brothers with rare kidney condition receive transplants

"He was feeling really good, he had just gotten a new job that he really liked, working with some people that he really liked,” said Jeff Carter, Stevie Ray’s father.

Lives Forever Changed

The night before the crash, Carter says he and Stevie Ray talked about the future.

"We had sat there and watched the March Madness games together and had a pizza and we spent a couple hours talking about the future and what the next thing we were going to do was,” said Carter. "I don't have any regrets about the last time I visited him."

He and two of his coworkers were carpooling to work in Tulsa on March 24th when troopers say the crash happened around 4 a.m. on the Muskogee Turnpike.

The crash has devastated Stevie Ray’s family.

"He's just going to be missed,” said Angie Gates, Stevie Ray’s mother. “You don't lose a kid and live a normal life after that."

A Better Place

Gates says she knows Stevie Ray is in his forever home.

"You have to accept that,” said Gates. “You have to be okay with where he's at. Because he's no longer in pain. He never has to take medicine again, he never has to go to the doctor again. I don't think he would come home if we asked him to at this point."

Organ Donation Advocate

His family is forever grateful for his organ donor, Megan Chitty, who gave Stevie Ray the chance for a future.

"Live the life that he was bound for and be happy and love us back the way we loved him,” said Carter.

His parents say Stevie Ray was an advocate for organ donation and would share each post he saw about someone needing a kidney.

"He was a big advocate for the Kidney Foundation,” said Gates. “He would share any time he saw that somebody was needing a kidney transplant or help, he would share it."

"Be an organ donor, it saves people's lives, it saves kids' lives, it gives them a shot,” said Carter.

“"I've learned just how important organ transplants are, and if you have that opportunity to be an organ donor, please do it,” said Stevie Ray Carter in 2023.

Forever Grateful

Instead of flowers, the family has asked for donations to be made to the Ascension St John Kidney Transplant Fund.

So far, they have received more than a dozen donations, and the family wants to thank Stevie Ray’s doctors there for reaching out to offer their condolences.

Donate to St. John (for transplants select Kidney Fund).

Donate to the Carter Family.