Valley Families of Organ Donors Invited to Place Loved One’s Photo on “Wall of Heroes”

Updated: April 22, 2013

Valley family members of deceased organ donors at Valley Baptist Medical Center are invited to send in a 5×7 photo of their loved one to display on a “Wall of Heroes” ” framed display. The “Wall of Heroes” will be dedicated on Tuesday, April 30 at 10 a.m. at Valley Baptist Medical Center in Harlingen and at 1 p.m. at Valley Baptist-Brownsville.

Tina Briones, RN, Ed.D.,Vice President with Valley Baptist, said Valley Baptist, along with the Texas Organ Sharing Alliance and the University of Texas Health Science Center-San Antonio Allograft Resources, wish to acknowledge this “gift of life” provided by organ and tissue donors and their families.

PROMOTING ORGAN DONATION – Meeting to promote organ donation in the Valley are, from the left, Patrick Ybarra, RN, ADON of Nursing Administration at Valley Baptist Medical Center-Harlingen; Flor Delgado of the Texas Organ Sharing Alliance; Manny Vela, CEO of Valley Baptist Health System; Dr. Ruben Lopez, Cardiovascular Surgeon and Organ Donation Committee Medical Chairman for Valley Baptist (Dr. Lopez donated one of his kidneys to help save the life of his younger brother); Tina Briones, RN, Ed.D., Valley Baptist Vice President; Sylvia and Gabriel Espinoza of Edinburg, parents of organ donor Jeramie Espinoza (who died after a tragic car collision in 2003, but whose organs saved the lives of five people); Henrietta Peynado, FNP-BC, CHPN, OCN, Nurse Practitioner with Valley Baptist Medical Center-Harlingen (Henrietta’s sister Veronica died while waiting for a lung transplant but became a tissue donor); and Valley Baptist Chaplain Joe Perez. For more information on organ donation, please call the Texas Organ Sharing Alliance at 1-866-685-0277.

“We recognize it is a difficult time of grief and sorrow when this decision is made to offer others a second chance of life,” Dr. Briones said. “Whether organ donors signed up as donors themselves, or their families made the critical decision for them, each will be remembered by the community. Valley Baptist in Harlingen and Brownsville is reserving a special place to remember these heroes. Our wish is that the ‘Wall of Heroes’ at Valley Baptist serves as a memorial to our patients — and comforts those who made the difficult decision for them. Our hope is that it encourages others to give the gift of life.”

By registering with the Donate Life Texas registry, Valley residents can enhance the lives of up to 80 people through organ and tissue donation. For more information, please contact the Texas Organ Sharing Alliance at 956-630-0884 or 1-866-685-0277 (website: www.txorgansharing.org).
Photos of deceased organ donors for the “Wall of Heroes” may be mailed to Tina Briones EdD, RN, at Valley Baptist Medical Center-Harlingen, 2101 Pease Street, Harlingen, 78550. Family members of organ donors should also contact Dr. Briones about signing a consent form to display their loved one’s photo in the hospital; she can be reached at 956-389-1104 or by e-mail at [email protected].

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