Laredo Medical Center and Texas Organ Sharing Alliance Honors Donor Heroes at First Gift of Life Ceremony

4/5/2023

LAREDO, Texas – Laredo Medical Center and the Texas Organ Sharing Alliance (TOSA) remembered those who have given the gift of life and recognized their family members for their courageous decision of organ donation in celebration of National Donate Life Month. Laredo Medical Center’s first-ever Gift of Life ceremony was held on Tuesday, April 4 in the hospital’s main foyer.

During the ceremony, Leticia Lopez, mom of donor hero Lorenzo Lopez Jr., was one of the speakers. Vanessa Vela, an employee of Laredo Medical Center, also spoke of her experience as a living donor hero. Laredo Medical Center CEO Jorge Leal and a representative from TOSA, Sylvia Quintanilla, also offered some comments. The ceremony featured a recognition of Donor Heroes who have given the gift of life from 2013 to 2022 – and Laredo Medical Center honored the Donor Heroes’ families with the presentation of roses in memory of their loved ones.

“We are pleased to honor the families of organ donors and the memories of the Donor Heroes who have given the gift of life,” says Jorge Leal, FACHE, CEO of Laredo Medical Center. “By making the decision to become an organ donor in advance, you spare those around you from having to make this difficult choice and you save precious time that could be used to help patients awaiting a lifesaving transplant. That’s why the work of the Texas Organ Sharing Alliance is so important and why Laredo Medical Center fully supports the goal to continue educating everyone on the importance of organ and tissue donation.”

Facts About Donation:

• There are more than 100,000 individuals waiting for organs in the U.S. and over 9,950 living in the State of Texas. About 60% of patients awaiting lifesaving transplants are minorities. Of Texans waiting for a lifesaving transplant, 40 percent are Hispanic.
• A new patient, on average, is added every 9 minutes. In 2021, over 6,000 patients died, an average of 17 per day, while on the national transplant waiting list. In 2021, 557 Texans died waiting for an organ transplant, averaging about 46 people per month in Texas.

Give hope and help save lives. The public is encouraged to register their decision to be an organ, eye and tissue donor at their local Department of Motor Vehicles, on RegisterMe.org, in your iPhone Health App, or the Texas Registry at DonateLifeTexas.org.

TOSA founded in 1975, is one of 57 federally-designated organ procurement organizations in the United States. TOSA is committed to a mission of saving lives through the power of organ donation by providing organ donation and recovery services to Central and South Texans wishing to donate, and to those waiting for a life-saving organ transplant.

For more information on organ donation, contact the Texas Organ Sharing Alliance at (210) 614-7030.

Laredo Medical Center administration welcome a family member of a donor hero during the hospital’s Gift of Life ceremony. They are, left to right, Chief Financial Officer Marco Rodriguez, Chief Nursing Officer Christine Martinez, Leticia Lopez (mother of donor hero Lorenzo Lopez Jr.), Chief Executive Officer Jorge Leal, TOSA Hospital/Donor Services Coordinator Sylvia Quintanilla and Assistant CEO Marco Lozano.

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