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Vets aid infant
needing new liver
Dianna M. Náñez
The Arizona Republic
Nov. 9, 2006 12:00 AM
While people across the nation this week are
honoring veterans for their contributions, one
Chandler family is thanking Southeast Valley vets
for helping save the life of their loved one.
Judy Bostick said she could never repay local
veterans for the financial and emotional support
given to her 1-year-old granddaughter, Brooklyn
Denlinger, during her recent liver transplant.
"There's just so much in my heart - I wish they
could read my heart - I love them so much," she
said. "They're just wonderful people with huge
hearts."
In September, veterans from Gilbert American Legion
Post 39 and other Southeast Valley Legions pitched
in to help raise $20,500 in a benefit coordinated by
Tempe's William Bloys American Legion Post 2 and
Evolution Custom Cycle, a Tempe-based company.
Since then, Bostick said veteran Dave Grey of Tempe
has continued to check on her family during their
stay at Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego.
Brooklyn is recovering at the hospital after
receiving a donated part of her mother Aisia Palma's
liver.
Though Bostick is grateful for the financial
donations, she said knowledge that a family of
veterans is praying for her granddaughter's life is
worth more than the money. Their good wishes, she
said, are helping her family make it through the
darker days of the transplant recovery and news that
Brooklyn may also have cystic fibrosis.
"We've got an extended family now," Bostick said.
"They said they're going to watch over her always."
Bostick said she is embarrassed to acknowledge she
had no idea so many veterans continue to give back
even after their active military service ends.
"I didn't even know they did stuff life this," she
said. "They deserve all the respect in the world . .
. everyone should be standing up and cheering for
them."
Gilbert American Legion Commander Joe Heller
described his post's community service as more of a
duty than a conscious choice.
"It's part of our selfless service."
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