The token that Ofelia Dominguez presented to the hospital — a framed photo of her 22-year-old daughter — inspired, comforted and guided dozens of other families as they waded through their own personal tragedies. Soon, there was a second photo on the wall beside Andrea Dominguez. Then there was a third. Each of these patients’ relatives decided to donate their organs after their deaths. The hospital soon formalized the wall and for a full year following the wall’s dedication, every family in that hospital in a position to donate a loved one’s organs did just that.

The photos on the wall both comforted families in crisis, and also helped them choose organ donation for their loved ones, increasing donation and increasing the number of organs available for transplant. Hospitals across Texas, and then across the nation, began to follow and create their own Walls of Heroes. That one token – a photo of Andrea Dominguez – led to even more lives saved across Texas and the nation. Andrea saved lives as an organ donor and then saved more lives through the Walls of Heroes.