Karina – Karie – was the oldest of 3 siblings including myself and our youngest brother. At the age of 9 yrs old, Karina was diagnosed with JRA ( Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis). Her life consisted of living with chronic pain daily and having multiple joint replacements and surgeries. As soon as she could remember she was donating bone and blood for research in hopes to find a cure for her condition. As she got older she always said she didn’t want other children to go through what she did and wanted to help as much as she could. The last couple of years of her life she helped many kids and families dealing with JRA. She was private about this and not many knew it, but Karie journaled every day about her struggles and dreams of helping others. Last year she shared on Facebook her daily struggles with chronic pain in hopes to help someone out there. She would always say that dealing with an illness many times you feel alone. She received many Facebook messages from young adults and kids explaining they had just been diagnosed and were scared, parents asking for advice and this helped her as well.

She became a real estate broker in her late life and was a natural. She took off in her new career and was doing great things. Karie never had kids, but she treated mine and my brother’s kids like her own. She was the best aunt she could be.

On January 21, 2019 my sister went into the hospital for a surgical extraction, she was placed under anesthesia and never regained consciousness again. On the third day being on life support we were told she was brain dead . My sister was having continual seizures and was placed on 3 different medications to stop her body from a constant shake. On January 25, my parents, brother and I decided to remove her from mechanical support. We didn’t want her to suffer any longer. We did what we knew she would want us to do. So in her last selfless acts before she passed, my sister donated her 2 kidneys and her liver. She has saved 3 lives through donation.

Karina Elise Jaramillo is missed everyday and we are so proud of her. She was a perfect example of courage and strength. We will forever love her.