Charity Guergo-Ramos's son Alejandro Ramos, age four, donated six organs in 2005. Recalled Charity, "I kissed him and thanked him for being my greatest gift and that of others for so many years to come."

Charity and Alejandro's Story

Charity Guergo-Ramos and her two young boys, Alejandro and Adrian, were inseparable, especially after her divorce. During hurricane watches, the boys would stay overnight with her at the hospital (Baptist Health Systems), where she was the emergency room supervisor for registration, while they waited out the storms. In September 2005, 4-1/2 year old Alejandro had just started pre-K and things were going well for the family. On the evening of September 12, shortly after Charity left for work, Alejandro had an accident resulting in a blunt head injury. He was airlifted to Miami Children’s Hospital, where he underwent emergency brain surgery to ease the pressure on his brain. For four days, the neurosurgeons and ICU physician tried to bring Alejandro back to consciousness. But on the fifth day, the doctors said that there was nothing else they could do and that the family had only a few more hours to say their goodbyes.

Struck by shock and disbelief, Charity and Robert, her ex-husband, struggled to find a spark of hope in their despair. “Neither one of us had ever thought about the idea of organ donation before and it is not popular in our culture, but something overcame both of us and we knew exactly what we had to do,” says Charity. “Alejandro was a very energetic, healthy little boy who could instill hope to others.”

They had made their decision and Carrie Dess, nurse coordinator of organ recovery for the Life Alliance team, was called in. “When I looked into her eyes, I knew she was the angel that my son had called to make sense of the madness. Carrie took time to explain every step of what was going to happen and the tunnel wasn’t so dark anymore. He sent the sign and we listened,” recalls Charity.

“As a healthcare worker, I was certainly familiar with advanced directives, but never thought it involved me. Now we needed one for our son. It ended up being the most incredible decision of my life.” Charity is very concerned about the lack of knowledge and awareness of organ donation in the Hispanic community, so she volunteers her time talking to groups and the media about the subject.

Six organs were recovered for transplant from Alejandro. Recipients include a 20-year old male from south Florida, who received both kidneys, and a six-year old girl from Gainesville, FL, who received his heart, liver and lungs. Recently, one of Charity’s best friends died and became an eye donor.

“Alejandro would have been very proud of our decision. The teachers gave him the name ‘mayor’ because he was the one who always settled all the disputes among the children. He wanted everyone to be at peace and they all loved just being around him,” Charity says.

"Just the weekend before he died, Alejandro had donated three-quarters of his toys to the “poor children” because he knew he was doing something great. On September 18, I whispered in his ear that he would be making the greatest gift of all. So I kissed him and thanked him for being my greatest gift and that of others for so many years to come, Mi Nino Lindo (my beautiful boy).”