Honorees

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Year Honored
2013
Honoree
Luis Bonilla
Title
Doctor
Agency
Mayo Organ Transplant Team
Agency City
Jacksonville
Agency State
FL
Last Call
12/26/11
Cause of Death
Medical Aviation Accident
Biography
Dr. Luis F. Bonilla was born in 1962 in Cali, Columbia. He received his medical degree from the Colegio Mayor de Nuestra Seora del Rosario in Bogota, Colombia and completed his residency in General Surgery at the University of Valle in Cali, Colombia.<br /> <br /> After having completed his medical education, a full surgical training program, and working as a surgeon in Colombia for several years, Dr. Bonilla moved to Rochester, Minnesota in 1993 to pursue a career in cardiothoracic surgery at Mayo Clinic. In order to become a board certified surgeon in the United States, he needed to repeat his training in the United States. He went on to complete an additional residency in general surgery along with an additional full clinical fellowship in thoracic and cardiovascular surgery at the Mayo School of Graduate Medical Education in Rochester, Minnesota.<br /> <br /> Dr. Bonilla is described as being dedicated, determined, persistent, and the consummate professional who always put the best interests of his patients first. When he wasn't at the hospital, he enjoyed every minute as family man. He had a continuous passion for "building good memories for the kids." Luis and his wife, Tracy, had three children: Philip, Anthony, and Ana. He adored his children and was very proud of them. They spent many hours as a family boating on the Mississippi River and Lake Minnetonka, biking in Lanesboro, going to the Twin Cities for weekends and traveling on family vacations in the States and to Colombia. Luis loved to play with his kids. Together they enjoyed flying RC helicopters, planes, and kites. He never missed an opportunity to teach his children important life lessons.<br /> <br /> Dr. Bonilla was killed while flying to Gainesville, Florida to procure a heart for transplant. The helicopter he was in crashed in remote dense woods in northern Florida, approximately 12 miles northeast of Palatka about 5:53 a.m., but the crash was not reported until around noon when<br /> <br /> Honored 2013