On May 6, 2020, McDonough couple, Dr. Kevin and Kacey Kurey, unexpectedly lost their son, Kyle Kurey, following a seizure. Kyle was 19 years old.

In his immediate family, Kyle is survived by his father Kevin, owner of Kevin M. Kurey, M.D., PC in McDonough; mother Kacey, a teacher at the Academy for Advanced Studies in McDonough; and brothers Karson and Kolin.

Unable to hold a gathering for family and friends following his passing in 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions, now, a year later, they are hosting a celebration of life event in Kyle’s memory as well as bringing to light the importance of organ and tissue donation.

Following multiple seizures in 2016, Kyle was diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of 16.

Although it was a startling diagnosis for their family, Kacey stated that Kyle continued to live his life as he did before his diagnosis.

“He’d joke about it. It was his personality,” said Kacey. “Kyle would make fun of himself just to make everyone else feel good about it.”

A very outgoing and “goofy” individual, Kyle continued to spend time with friends, played many pranks, and participated in a variety of sports.

“He lived. Kyle was always scheming, always planning,” said Kacey.

“He just wanted people to feel good. He could adapt to any situation. But he was a tough kid to raise,” laughed Kacey. “He made us earn our parent stripes.”

Kyle completed his freshman year at Georgia State University in 2020 where he was majoring in finance.

Kurey never imagined she would lose her son to a seizure but stated that it was always a possibility, however slim.
Following her son’s passing, the Kurey family felt reassured with Kyle’s wish to become a donor and made the proper arrangements.

“That comfort of knowing we had that conversation, it provided such peace on that whole decision,” said Kacey. “So it was a no brainer for us.”

Kyle was a tissue donor and was able to donate his muscles, tendons, corneas, saphenous veins, skin, bone grafts, and heart valves, through Lifelink and Georgia Eye Bank.

Since his passing, Kyle has helped three separate individuals, two with his corneas, and another with his saphenous veins. With the tissues donated, Kyle will have the potential to help up to 70 people.

After Kyle’s tissue donation, Kacey became an ORGANizer with Lifelink, and is now able to speak to various groups and share her family’s story about Kyle while also working to raise awareness about the importance of organ and tissue donation.

“I’ve actually had the ability to do that once at Atlanta Medical Center. April is organ donation month and I got to raise the flag and give my first talk about Kyle,” said Kacey. “It went really well.”

Kacey stated that is is hard to lose a child, but shared that she makes the conscious decision to “choose joy” each day and cherish the memories that she has of her son Kyle.

“Life is about choices. I can get up and be bitter or I can look for the good,” said Kacey. “I say choose joy and, with all my heart I mean it, but some days are just harder than others.”

In an effort to provide closure to their friends and family members, the Kurey’s will be hosting a public celebration of life on July 10, from 5 to 7 p.m., for anyone in the community interested in paying their respects and sharing memories of their son.

The event will be held at Community Christian School’s athletic fields, located at 2001 Jodeco Road in Stockbridge.

They will host a raffle at the event featuring sports memorabilia and a variety of themed baskets. All of the proceeds from the event will be donated to The Epilepsy Foundation.

There will also be tables at the event sharing information about organ and tissue donation and epilepsy, as well as lawn games and a photo booth.

For more information about the event, contact Kacey Kurey at kkurey@aol.com.