PHOENIX — Losing a child is a burden no parent ever wants to bear.
In 2013, Reyna Rodriguez's 15-year-old daughter Briana was killed in an ATV accident.
“We went up to Pine Top for Easter, and that’s when she, unfortunately, lost her life in a rollover,” Rodriguez explained.
Briana's grandfather was a kidney recipient, and her mother stressed the importance of being an organ donor. A month prior to her death, Briana decided she would follow in her mother's footsteps to help others if something were to happen to her.
“Whether it was tissue, kidney, heart transplant I got to meet at least three of those organ recipients," said Reyna. "My angel saves a lot of lives.”
'It's a gift': Her choice became the reality for others
One of those recipients is Vance Tennyson, who received her right kidney.
“It really is truly a gift of life. People will comment about it sometimes, ‘you look at everything like it’s brand-new,’ and I’m like because it is," said Tennyson. "Through unfortunate circumstances, I still get to be here, and it’s been nine years.”
But Saturday was special for the Rodriguez family because they were finally meeting the woman who received Briana's heart. Julia Jones was two years younger than Briana when she got the phone call that doctors found a match.
She's now 21 and a student at UCLA.
“It was crazy because they told us the wait was going to be four to six months, maybe longer and three weeks later we got the call saying there’s someone in Arizona," said Jones. "It could be a match for you, and it could mean you get to go home and go to 8th grade and do all the normal things a teenager gets to do.”
One by one, Briana's family listened to the whispers of her heart beating inside Julia's chest.
“It’s crazy to think that she’s not here and I am, but I’m so thankful,” said Jones.
The Rodriguez family knows that Briana is physically gone, but Julia is here and Briana is still living on through the people she's given a second chance.
“The bond is going to be there no matter what,” said Reyna.
Learn more about being an organ donor
"Donor Network of Arizona (DNA) is the state’s federally designated, nonprofit organ procurement organization that coordinates organ, eye and tissue donation for transplantation.
We are dedicated to working with our health care and community partners to support donor families, facilitate organ, eye and tissue donation for transplant and encourage people in our community to donate life!"
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