Joshua San Pedro was a young man with a passion for caring for others, especially his big, close-knit family, which includes his parents, siblings, grandparents, fiancee, aunts, uncles, cousins and many, many friends. His death in April of 2013, from a heart attack caused by a combination of undiagnosed medical conditions, came as a shock to all who knew and loved him. But they are proud of his legacy as a tissue donor.
Josh knew firsthand the healing benefits of receiving the gift of life as a tissue recipient. While playing football for Alta Loma High School, Joshua suffered an injury that required three operations, two on his knee and one on his shoulder. His last surgery was a knee replacement that included donated tissue. After that, Josh registered to be a donor on the Donate Life California Organ & Tissue Donor Registry, knowing he could someday help others in the same way.
But Josh wanted to help others in life, too. After graduating high school in 2008, he attended Citrus College and worked there as an assistant football coach. After that, he worked as an EMT for AMR Ambulance and attended paramedic school. His family says he loved life and was looking forward to accomplishing the goals he set for his life.
One of those goals was to get married and have a family. Just one week after his death, Josh’s fiancee, Alexis, learned she was pregnant with the couple’s child, who was born on December 18, 2013. While Josh’s death, at the age of 22, was sudden and unexpected, his family is proud of the legacy he is leaving as a father and as a tissue donor. Already his gifts of tissue have helped a breast cancer survivor, a bone cancer survivor and a child with a cleft palate, among others.
“Josh was a loving and caring person, always trying to help others, such is the nature of his living legacy as a donor,” said Kathy San Pedro, Josh’s mother. “His father and I are extremely proud of him.”
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