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Family of slain Texas teacher and her husband who died of a 'broken heart' receive millions in donations

By SAAB LARIOSA Published May 30, 2022 4:25 pm

Donations are pouring in for the bereaved family of Debra Garcia, one of the teachers slain during the Texas school shooting, and her husband, Joe Garcia, who died from cardiac arrest with a "broken heart" shortly after.

Irma's cousin, Debra Austin, had set up the fundraiser through the crowdfunding site, GoFundMe to give 100% of the proceeds to the bereaved children and family members of the couple who died just days apart.

On May 24, an 18-year-old gunman walked into Robb Elementary Schoon in Uvalde, Texas, and slaughtered 19 young children and two of their teachers.

Debra Garcia was one of the teachers who died protecting her young students. She had been a teacher in the local elementary school for 23 years.

"Irma was a wife, a mother of 4, a cousin, a sister a daughter, an aunt, and a wonderful person. She would literally do anything for anybody......no questions asked," Debra wrote.

"She loved her classroom kids and died trying to protect them. Please donate anything you can to help her family."

The couple, who were married for 24 years and were said to be high school sweethearts, are survived by their four children. 

"I truly believe Joe died of a broken heart and losing the love of his life of more than 25 years was too much to bear," Debra added.

As of writing, Austin's GoFundMe page has raised over $2,600,000 (P104,000,000 ), going well over their expected goal of $10,000 (P522,000).

Screen capture from Debra Austin's GoFundMe page as of May 30, 2022.