2016 Alex Guedea

ALEX GUEDEA

Organ, Tissue, and Cornea Donor

Age 21 ~ Corona, CA

Donated on 06/22/2012

at Riverside Community Hospital

Alex Guedea always had a love for seeing other people laughing and enjoying life. He enjoyed making people smile and doing random things for others just to see them happy. Alex was at the young age of 21 when his life was tragically cut short. For his family, the decision to donate was an easy and unanimous one. Based on the life Alex had lived, they knew he would want to be allowed to give a lifesaving gift to others. Now the Guedeas educate and inspire others on Alex’s behalf in order to save more lives. For them, donation isn’t just for the recipients; it is just as much a gift for those left behind.

Alex’s Story

Alex Guedea always had a love for seeing other people laughing and enjoying life. He enjoyed making people smile and doing random things for others just to see them happy. Alex was at the young age of 21 when his life was tragically cut short. Alex’s gift was an incredible optimism and joy that he created in people around him, and thinking about him no longer being in this world carrying out that gift was impossible for his parents. On Tuesday, June 19^,2012 at 11:00 am, Alex was pronounced brain dead and the impossible became real.

Shortly after that news, Alex’s parents were gently and compassionately confronted with the possibility of organ donation. For his family, it was an easy and unanimous decision. Based on the life Alex had lived, they knew he would want this and knew they would honor him with a decision that would allow him to give a lifesaving gift to others and allow him to be part of another’s miracle.

Today, the Guedeas have been incredibly blessed to have met not only one, but all of Alex’s major organ recipients. They have placed their heads on a stranger’s chest and heard Alex’s heart beat loud and strong. They have watched as that man hugs his little boy, an act that would have been impossible without Alex’s gift.

Alex made his parents’ decision to make him a donor easy with the life that he lived leading up to his death. They believe that Alex didn’t just give 3 strangers a gift of life, but he gave his parents a gift also. Every day they get up, knowing Alex is thriving up in heaven and that individuals here carry a physical part of him with them, giving them another chance at life. Each day the Guedeas have another gift from Alex, the ability to educate and inspire others on his behalf in order to save more lives. For Alex’s parents, donation isn’t just for the recipients; it is just as much a gift for those left behind.