ORLANDO, Fla. — In the days that followed the Pulse nightclub shooting, many rushed to donate life-saving blood.
Yet, a team that processed that blood never imagined the tragedy would hit so close to home.
Rodolfo Ayala Ayala, who worked as a platelets supervisor at OneBlood and whose co-workers affectionately called Rody, died in the June 12, 2016 shooting.
“Rody was a diamond in the sky. He was joyful, he was courageous,” said Tameka Brownlee, a OneBlood Biologics manufacturing platelets supervisor. “You know, he was an encouraging person, a loving person,”
Tameka Brownlee said that her coworker Rodolfo Ayala Ayala, whom she called Rody, befriended her right away, helping her look for a new apartment when she relocated to Orlando. (Spectrum News)
“From the moment he started, he was just a burst of energy,” said another friend, Kadian McIntosh-Rosales, a manager with the blood center’s biologics manufacturing. “He brought so much light to the team every day.”
But for many hours prior to learning the news of his death, Rody’s OneBlood teammates desperately tried to reach him by phone.
As Central Florida answered the call for blood, Rody did not.
“I remember hearing we hadn’t heard from Rody, there was a concern,” recalled Susan Forbes, OneBlood senior vice president of corporate communications and public relations.
As they continued trying to contact Roday, Forbes said the team worked feverishly to process blood to send to hospitals.
“We kept calling his phone,” McIntosh-Rosales said. “All day. Text messages, everything. And just trying to see if anyone has heard anything.”
OneBlood Biologics Manufacturing Manager Kadian McIntosh-Rosales oversees the blood center’s Orlando location, handling day-to-day operations of blood component processing. (Spectrum News)
And once the team learned that Rody was one of the victims, Brownlee said that she was overcome by grief and shock.
“We both were working 48 hours before that took place. We were working together and talking, having fun … I hugged him. I said, ‘OK, I’ll see you when we get back,’” she said, wiping away tears. “And then not knowing I was not going to see him again. So that really was heartbreaking for me. He was more than a supervisor — he was my friend.”
For weeks, the blood center team wiped away tears, shared hugs and memories of their joyous, dance-loving friend, who they considered family.
So, as families do, they honored Rody in the best way they knew how: They installed a plaque in OneBlood’s lobby that includes a photo that captures his spirit.
Plaque placed in OneBlood’s lobby honoring Rodolfo Ayala Ayala (Courtesy: OneBlood)
“I pass by it all the time and look at him and just smile and be like, ‘You know Rody, I know you’re shining down on us,’” Brownlee said.
Forbes said the plaque also reminds the team of the fragility of life, and the importance of the work they do.
“It’s the donor who came in two and three days before the Pulse tragedy, that their blood was available at that moment when those patients were being brought in,” Forbes said. “The people who survived that tragedy depended on blood donors to save their life.”
And now, 10 years after the attack, Rody’s co-workers keep his memory close.
“I would tell him that we miss him tremendously, let him know about the positive impact he’s had on my life as a leader,” said McIntosh-Rosales. “I want to tell him that he just left such an impact on us and we will forever remember him.”
REMEMBERING PULSE
Ten years ago minus one day, the city of Orlando was dealing with a tragedy. Late Friday night, June 10th, 2016, singer Christina Grimmie was shot and killed after a concert at The Plaza Live at Colonial Plaza, just east of downtown Orlando. The Saturday morning news was overflowing about the horrific murder of a young celebrity in The City Beautiful’s own backyard. It was incomprehensible that someone would do such a thing, and then the incomprehensible was followed by the unimaginable. Some 27 and a half hours after Grimmie’s murder, another gunman opened fire at the Pulse Nightclub on South Orange Avenue in the SODO section of Orlando, killing 49 people and injuring 58 others. When daylight came, the numbers were staggering.
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