As donors lined up to donate blood at One Blood Centers on Sunday, workers were quietly dealing with the loss of one of their own in the Pulse nightclub shooting.
- Rodolfo Ayala-Ayala was one of the 49 killed in Sunday's attack at Pulse
- Worked at OneBlood Centers since 2011
- RELATED: The 49 victims of the Pulse attack
Rodolfo Ayala-Ayala, who goes by the name Rody, was killed in the attack Sunday morning. The 33-year-old started working at OneBlood in 2011 as a biologics assistant, and over the years he rose to become a platelet supervisor in the Orlando laboratory.
"He's a caring, loving individual,” said Adam Colon, Ayala’s coworker. “He wants to help everybody as much as possible in their situation."
Colon said months ago, he and his wife were excited to break the news of their first baby to their friend. Ayala was delighted and re-arranged Colon’s schedule, so he could better balance his home and work life.
"He tells me to save my PTO, so when the baby comes, I can spend more time with the baby,” he said. "He would always tell me, for the baby. For the baby. It's almost like he was looking out for us."
Tuesday, Ayala’s coworkers gathered outside the OneBlood Center to share memories of their friend, noting Ayala’s dedication to their mission and compassion for others. They all signed a poster board of pictures of Ayala, scribbling messages to their friend.
"When it's one of your own that has died in the tragedy, it just lets you know that what you're doing in this mission to save lives has a deeper meaning,” said Pat Michaels, a spokesperson for OneBlood.
Over the last three days, hundreds waited in line – some for hours – to donate life-saving blood. Yet, behind the scenes, Ayala’s co-workers and teammates were silently reeling, devastated about the loss of their friend.
"We fought through tears and cried while we worked. We used Kleenexes and changed our gloves to do what we had to do. We're still doing it now,” said Matt Simons, who also works at OneBlood.
While the team said they are devastated, they feel even more motivated to continue to save lives, doing it in Ayala’s honor.
"He instilled within us everything we ever needed to know to get the job done,” said Simons.
"It just shows that we're not going to be defined by what happens,” added Colon.