Antonio Jordan “AJ” Garay was born October 17, 2016 and peacefully passed surrounded by love January 13, 2023.

AJ from the beginning showed us that his determination and will to live was strong! He was here to change the world, and that he did! In his 6 short years here his story touched people from all over the world. To watch him go through the struggles of CHD and every complication imaginable was often times heartbreaking, however AJ always faced everything with true resilience and a smile. His smile was so infectious that truly you cannot even in deep grief think of him without smiling.

AJ changed the way we see life, the way that providers practice medicine and the way that many can find beauty in all of our paths in life no matter how bumpy they maybe. Those paths and our bodies aren’t always wrapped in perfect little packages with ideal endings.

Sometimes, they come with scars, Gtubes, central lines and trachs. Even with all that came with AJ it didn’t stop him from living a life without boundaries and making the most incredible memories on all of his adventures across the United States.

He will be immensely missed by his parents, Nicholas and Tiffany, his entire family at Texas Children’s Hospital, all of therapists, teachers, home health nurses and finally his siblings (Alyssa, Dominick, Vanessa, Vincent). His brothers and sisters loved him deeply and learned to care for him and his needs while navigating the difficult world of being a sibling to a medical complex child with more grace than anyone could imagine.


AJ’s legacy will live on strongly in them and everyone as we go forward and continue the change that AJ started. #AdvocatingforAJ