The Santiago family are advocates for something they never imagined they would be; organ donation.
"We miss him every single day," Heather Santiago said of her eldest son, Jordan. "Every. Single. Day."
25-year-old Jordan Santiago loved learning, travel, and people. He had his whole life ahead of him when he was struck by a hit-and-run driver on the way home from a Dallas Stars game.
"Around 10:30, 11:00 (p.m.) we received the call," Jordan's dad Andrew Santiago said. "Jordan, um, suffered traumatic head injuries," Jordan's mom Heather Santiago said. "Even in death, he still was able to give life."
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It was what Jordan would have wanted, they said.
"One of the most difficult decisions as parents we actually had to make," Andrew Santiago said. "On his little driver's license he had actually signed up to say if anything happens, I want to give life."
According to the Southwest Transplant Alliance, 67% of those on a waiting list for a donor in Texas are Latino or African American. The goal of National Multicultural Donor Awareness Month is to highlight the disproportionate need for donors.
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"So we have become really strong advocates for organ donation," Andrew Santiago said.
The Santiagos started an annual 'Santi Strong 5k Run', and the Jordan Santiago iCare Foundation to raise money for scholarships in Jordan's name and spread awareness about the need for donors.
"We don't like to think about, you know, death. We're so young, we feel like we have so much life," Jordan's younger brother Adriyan Santiago said. "The ability to even have the thought that you could save someone's life is truly, it really is incredible."
"Life is short. You're not promised tomorrow," Heather Santiago said. "So start living life to the fullest, like Jordan did."
For more information about organ donation or how to become a donor, click here.
