When Samantha Joos received her driver's license, she signed the back of it to make her organs and tissues available for donation after her death.
        "We discussed it the second she got her driver's license. She definitely wanted to do that," her father, Tim, said Wednesday.
        The 17-year-old St. Charles North High School senior was killed Tuesday morning after her car collided head-on with a Coca-Cola delivery truck on Randall Road, just south of Crane Road.
        Because of the generosity of Samantha and her family, other lives might be improved or saved.
        Elmhurst-based Gift of Hope Organ and Tissue Donor Network received Samantha's donation. She gave tissues and organs, including heart valves, small sections of her spine and bone.
        "Another person's life will be saved because they received a heart valve replacement," said Kim McCullough, the network's public relations manager.
        McCullough said several lives could be saved because of Samantha's donation. Portions of her spine will be used for spinal fusion surgery, and bone is used in different types of orthopedic surgery, McCullough said.
        Signing the back of one's driver's license is the first step in organ or tissue donation.
        "We talked to her family to get their consent," McCullough said. "We were able to carry out her wishes."
        There is a great demand for organ and tissue donations.
        "There are more than 750,000 surgeries that take place every year across the nation. And one in 20 Americans need some sort of tissue transplant during their lifetime," McCullough said.
        Gift of Hope will test Samantha's tissues to ensure the health of the tissue before they are cleared for transplant, McCullough said.
        McCullough said she appreciated the family's willingness to talk about Samantha's donation.
        "Many family's don't choose to talk about it. It is one of the hardest decisions to make to say 'yes' to a donation," McCullough said.
        Tim works in Columbus, Ohio, and the family was preparing to move there after Samantha finished her senior year.
        Her willingness to share organs and tissues was an example of her generosity, her father said.
        Although she had not picked a college, she had picked a career path. She wanted to be a social worker.
        "She was going to Ohio next week to scope out colleges," Tim said. "She wanted to be a counselor. She wanted to work with children."
        Visitation for Samantha will be from 3 to 8 p.m. today at Yurs Funeral Home, 405 E. Main St., St. Charles.
        A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 1 p.m. Friday at St. Patrick Crane Road Church, 6N491 Crane Road, St. Charles. Interment will be private.