Dying Teen's Life-Saving Donation Will Be Commemorated On Rose Bowl Float
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Marina Perez passed away nearly three years ago, but in a month she'll make a special appearance in a parade.
The 13-year-old's story will be shared with millions at the Rose Bowl parade in January on the Donate Life float.
Perez passed away suddenly from a brain hemorrhage.
"When I was in the hospital, clears throat, waiting to find out if she was going to survive or not, I kept thinking she's never had a boyfriend," her mother Nicole Perez said.
Then came a difficult decision for the mother—should she donate her daughter's organs.
"I don't know if I would have been strong enough at that time to look past my own grief and make that decision, but she expressed to me that she wanted to be an organ donor if anything ever happened to her," she said.
As hard as it was to make the decision to donate, her family recognized all the good that could come from it.
After her daughter's death, Nicole changed careers, moving from bookkeeping to teaching. She spent Tuesday morning speaking with a Sacramento City College class about her experience.
"I go through not to bring them through this dark and terrible tragic story, but to show them the light at the end of it," she said.
Though Nicole recalls all the things Marina will never get the chance to do, she's comforted by the things others will get to do because of her.