By The Diary
Sep 10, 2024, 12:34 PM EDT
Martha Rodriguez, a 72-year-old nurse who helped many patients overcome the trauma of cancer, died in a strange accident outside her building in Harlem (NYC), but has still managed to save three lives with her donated organs.
Last week, her case was ruled a homicide, but no one has been arrested. The tragedy dates back to Aug. 3, when Rodriguez and two friends went to the movies. She then headed home alone, but before she could enter her building on Lenox Ave. near W. 134th St. she was tackled by a young man who was being chased by other men, for reasons that are still unclear, the NYPD said.
Paramedics rushed Rodriguez to Harlem Hospital in critical condition, with traumatic head injuries. When she fell, Rodriguez fractured her skull in two places, was bleeding on the brain and had to be put on a ventilator, her friend Lisa Ackerman told the outlet. Daily NewsDoctors determined that he would never regain consciousness.
Tom Young, a close friend who attended graduate school with Rodriguez in the 1990s and spoke to the detective investigating the case, said the young man was looking over his shoulder at those pursuing him and did not appear to have had time to avoid Rodriguez as he turned around.
Young said she can’t get over the randomness of the incident and the fact that the group chasing the young man who knocked Rodriguez to the ground didn’t stop to help her. “It’s sad where humanity is right now… But there are also people like Martha, who remind us that the battle on Earth is to try to fight that — to eliminate negativity, to eliminate inhumanity, wherever we can.”
Rodriguez’s humanitarian decision was praised by Leonard Achan, president of LiveOnNY, a nonprofit that coordinates and oversees organ donations. “At the end of the day, the city lost an extraordinary woman and a health care professional who in her last act of altruism gave life and hope to these three strangers. The silver lining behind what happened to her is that she ended up saving the lives of three people.”
Rodriguez worked for more than 28 years as a nurse at Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) Cancer Center in Manhattan, caring for breast cancer patients for the past 15 years. She recently told friends she planned to work just one more year before retiring.
“Her zest for life was contagious and her dedication, compassion and expertise left an indelible mark on the lives of countless MSK patients and caregivers,” the center said in a statement. “Martha was not just a colleague, but a friend and mentor to many. She will be deeply missed by all who had the privilege of knowing her.”
The recipients of his organs, three men between the ages of 64 and 76, are recovering, Achan said. LiveOnNY will try to connect them with two of Rodriguez’s brothers who live outside of New York state.
The police investigation remains ongoing. No arrests have been made and no suspects have been identified. Anyone with information is asked to call 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) and for Spanish 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). They can also be reached via the website crimestoppers.nypdonline.org or by texting 274637 (CRIMES), followed by TIP577. All communications are strictly confidential.
For more information on organ donation in New York, you can visit the Spanish page of LiveOnNY, “a non-profit organization committed to helping prolong the lives of New Yorkers.” Blood donors are also constantly needed at the New York Blood Center (NYBC), which supplies hospitals in New York and New Jersey,
At the end of March, a 2-year-old Latino baby was taken off life support after being seriously injured in a fire at his home in Upper Manhattan (NYC) and his organs were offered for donation. The same thing happened to a 13-year-old boy who was the victim of a hit-and-run in September 2023. Another similar case occurred in August 2022 when a 9-year-old Latino boy died in a road crash in Long Island (NY).
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