Southwest Transplant Alliance

Sick as a patient of the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Quiroz had spent years waiting for a heart transplant and had resigned himself to the worst outcome.

"I never did lose my faith," Quiroz, a Catholic, recalled. "But I knew that I needed the heart of a Hispanic and that it would be difficult to find one in this country."

On Dec. 21, 1998, an airplane that carried the heart of Nicolas Huerta, a 15-year-old El Paso teen, tried to land at a foggy Dallas airport but was diverted to Galveston, where it helped give Quiroz an extension on his life.

Quiroz, 47, is able to share his story through "Angeles en la Tierra" -- a booklet his wife, Adriana, wrote and formally released Sunday during a book-signing that also raised awareness about the need for organ donors along the border.

Dozens of relatives and friends of the family attended the book signing at Jardines Arco Iris in the Sparks Community.

Adriana Quiroz said she doesn't think of herself as a writer but she found it vital to spread awareness about the need for more organ donors.

"I think that God did this so that we can bring attention to how important this is," she said. "There is a lot of information about organ donations but that is all in English."

The 25-page booklet is in Spanish and its cover was illustrated by the couple's son, Luis Ramon Quiroz, 13, who remembers the joy the family felt when his father finally left the hospital.

Adriana Quiroz told her audience that signing up to be a donor should also include a long discussion with family members.

"No one is going to go looking for your license to see if you are a donor," she said.

"You need to talk to your family so that they know you are a donor."

According to the Southwest Transplant Alliance, a nonprofit organ and tissue donor program, there are 12,000 Latinos on the national waiting list.

Learn more

For more information about organ donations, contact Southwest Transplant Alliance at (800) 788-8058.