SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - Hundreds of people flocked to Southwest Miami Senior High School, Thursday, to donate blood for a beloved principal who lost his legs after being struck by an SUV, last month.
People from all across South Florida came out to donate blood in honor of South Dade Senior High principal Javier Perez, who is slowly recovering at Kendall Regional Medical Center. Perez lost his legs after getting struck and pinned underneath the SUV at Tamiami Park, on April 26, and has been hospitalized ever since.
According to organizers, so many people came out to donate blood, that the Big Red blood donating buses couldn’t keep up with the demand. Those who know and love him are doing whatever they can to support him and his family during this difficult time.
Before he became the principal of South Dade, he was the assistant principal at Southwest Miami. Beatrice Victores, the assistant principal who took over his position once he left, said the school was doing all it could to honor him. “What they asked us to do in honor of him is to donate blood because they came to realize how important donation is to save lives, as it saved his life,” she said.
The driver, 51-year-old Marilyn Aguilera, bonded out of jail after being charged with a DUI earlier this week. Police said she was driving three times over the legal alcohol limit at the time of the accident and is now under house arrest.
She bonded out of jail Tuesday night, but the terms of her release put her before a judge, again, Thursday morning.
“There was something that just fell through the cracks,” said her attorney, Richard Gregg.
And that something was house arrest. Aguilera had first left jail without an ankle monitor, but that changed Thursday. “She can go to church, she will be allowed to go to work, but right now, she’s not working because this has devastated her,” said Gregg. “I mean, absolutley. She is just heartbroken over it.”
Mothers Against Drunk Driving also made an appearance at the blood drive. Sally Matson of the organization expressed as much sympathy as she could. “I’m sorry she feels so badly. How could you not?”
Friends have also organized the 1st Annual Javi Perez Road to Recovery 5K Run/Walk will take place Sunday, June 5th at Amelia Earhart Park, at 401 E 65th St., in Hialeah, at 8 a.m. For more information, visit the event’s Facebook page: www.facebook.com/Javi-Perez-Road-to-Recovery-5K-RunWalk-708130395956092/.
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