CLOVIS, Calif. (KFSN) — Just 10 days after his death, Geoff Bernardi – a beloved son, uncle and educator – has become the savior of several lives through organ donation.
“It’s the one silver lining in all of this tragedy,” said Bernardi’s mother, Erin Adams.
Adams said she led the honor walk through the halls of Community Regional Medical Center as surgeons prepared to recover her son’s organs.
“I wanted to walk with him ahead of the party, which was really hard to do because he was so beaten. When they got to the OR where they were going to harvest the organs, that was the last time I saw him. It’s heartbreaking,” Adams said.
Police said Bernardi, a well-known Clovis educator, was violently attacked by a stranger outside his apartment complex on December 18.
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Clovis police said they are still working to find a suspect.
“When a homicide happens in Clovis, because we don’t have very many annually, it’s all hands on deck. Always. All of our detectives have been following up seven days a week since the homicide happened,” said Clovis police spokesperson Ty Wood.
Adams said Tuesday she hopes an arrest will come soon, but even that won’t fill the hole left behind by her son’s death.
Bernardi’s organs have already been donated and received by patients, including an 8-year-old girl and a 21-year-old man.
Photos shared by his family show Bernardi as they knew him – a family man who enjoyed spending time with his nieces and dedicated his life to youth.
Adams hopes her son’s love will live on through those who received his organs.
“Some believe that they take the traits of their organ donor, and I hope that they do get some of those traits from him because he had wonderful traits,” Adams said.
“I love you, I miss you and that I wish I had one more time with him,” Adams said.
Geoff Bernardi’s family has set up a GoFundMe page for anyone looking to help with his funeral services.
