The Monitor | Daniel Flores
Shantel Garza, 10, walked to the front of the room — past hanging quilts patched together with rows of squares and a table full of framed photos remembering organ donors — to grab the microphone. Flameless candles, placed there by donors’ families, glowed next to the young organ recipient.
“I’m glad to be here because somebody gave the gift of life to me,“ Garza said, praising donor families before her rendition of the national anthem. “I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for all of you guys.“
During the Texas Organ Sharing Alliance’s ceremony Saturday at The Forum in McAllen, eight organ recipients symbolically illuminated their candles near one that was already lit. The eight candles represented the eight donatable organs: liver, lungs, heart, kidneys, pancreas and small intestine.
Shantel Garza, 10, walked to the front of the room — past hanging quilts patched together with rows of squares and a table full of framed photos remembering organ donors — to grab the microphone. Flameless candles, placed there by donors’ families, glowed next to the young organ recipient.
“I’m glad to be here because somebody gave the gift of life to me,“ Garza said, praising donor families before her rendition of the national anthem. “I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for all of you guys.“ Continue reading
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