‘He’s like a real life superhero’: Matthew Garcia died a hero to those who will receive his organ donations

By Nakayla McClelland - Albuquerque Journal • April 11, 2025

Matthew Garcia’s family remember him by filling a large oak table with pictures from his childhood and hanging his medals on the wall near the bedroom of “a real life superhero.”

When Garcia, 40, died on March 15, his family struggled to believe his light and laughter wouldn’t grace their lives. But one thing brought the Garcia family solace during dark times — knowing he would be a hero to others, living on through people who received his organs.

Garcia’s final day was spent surrounded by 200 friends, family members and firefighters who saluted Garcia as his hospital bed was rolled through the hallways during his donor walk.

In 2025, New Mexico has had 26 organ donors and 99 tissue donors, with 50 organs being transplanted to those in need. Matthew was able to donate two kidneys — one to a person in Oregon and one to a person in Texas — providing them with needed organs. The Garcia family said they are open to meeting with the recipients.

April is Donate Life Month — a celebration to those who save lives through organ, eye and tissue donations. Garcia’s story is one of many examples of providing life through loss.

Garcia was a star to loved ones and the community, his family said. Though Garcia was diagnosed with Down syndrome as a child, his family prioritized giving him a fulfilling life.

His family wasn’t familiar with the genetic disorder, and they had to learn a lot in a short time.

“Since Matthew was born, I’ve always called him my little professor because he has taught me so much, we’ve all learned from him,” said Debra Garcia, Garcia’s mother.

As a child, his family made sure he was surrounded with friends, family and love, sending him to public school even when the Garcias were advised to send him to a school for children with special needs.

“My mom fought to keep him in school with us and I think that’s why he was so close to the community, because he grew up in our community,” said Melissa Lane, Garcia’s older sister. “He had so many friends and family and people that knew him since he was little.”

Garcia left his mark in the community for being kind and loving no matter the situation, his family said.

In high school, Garcia was the homecoming prince, a manager for the school’s wrestling team and a member of ROTC.

He competed in the Special Olympics in baseball, basketball, swimming and bowling, bringing home several medals that still grace the hallways of his home leading to his bedroom. 

For years, Garcia was healthy, but things took a turn on Feb. 13, when Lane got a called from her mother, who said Garcia was struggling to breathe.

In just minutes, Garcia went from an oxygen level of 60% to 40%, a medical emergency.

“They took him, they diagnosed him with the flu, and then pneumonia, secondary to the flu, and then it turned into acute respiratory distress syndrome,” Lane said. “The doctor said that we’ve advanced medicine in all areas except for this. They do the same thing they’ve done in the 1980s, just give them oxygen and hope that they make it through.”

On Feb. 17, doctors said Garcia would need to be put on a ventilator, something his family was opposed to until absolutely necessary.

“It is on the family to make those hard decisions, and we were advocating to not put him on the ventilator because there’s secondary infections,” said Omar Garcia, Garcia’s older brother. “There’s complications with it, and we saw those complications manifesting fairly quickly, secondary infections in and out of white blood cells, cell counts … things of that nature.”

For days, Garcia laid in his hospital bed while his family clasped their hands together and prayed, but it became clear the Garcia family needed to consider what came next.

After a representative from New Mexico Donor Services approached them and asked the family to consider organ donation, the Garcia family decided they would wait for donor services to find recipients.

When they came back with a list of compatible matches, the Garcia family decided Garcia would give the gift of life to someone in need. On March 15, he was taken off life support.

“We told the kids he’s like a real life superhero,” Lane said. “It does give us a little bit of joy in all the sorrow.”