Sgt. Sandoval's body to return home Friday

The body of Sgt. Frank Sandoval is expected to return home Friday evening.

His wife, Michelle, told The Sun that physicians successfully harvested his organs Wednesday.

"I am happy for Frankie that he is able to live on," she said. "I hope one day I can meet (the recipients)."

Sandoval was declared brain dead early Monday morning at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Palo Alto, Calif. He never regained consciousness after a June 13 surgery to implant a prosthetic mold to replace a portion of his skull that was removed due to a combat injury that occurred in Iraq in November 2005. He was kept on life support until Wednesday's procedure.

His viewing will be held from 5 to 9 p.m. Wednesday at Johnson Mortuary, 1415 S. 1st Ave.

Services will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday at Immaculate Conception Church at 501 S. Avenue B. Burial will follow in Desert Lawn.

Michelle said those wishing to help the family can donate to Joelena A. Sandoval's fund. Joelena is Frank's surviving 5-year-old daughter. Donations can be made at AEA Federal Credit Union, to account number 64765.

Frank Sandoval had volunteered to be in the lead vehicle on the patrol in which he was injured in Baghdad. He had been manning a .50-caliber machine gun mounted on a Humvee when an explosion from a roadside bomb caused a projectile to become lodged in his right temple.

Doctors were forced to remove a piece of his skull due to the wound.

Sandoval was released from the hospital in September 2006, returned to Yuma and had continued to make progress on his recovery. He has earned a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star. He is a 1999 graduate of Kofa High School.

His parents are Rick and Beatrice Sandoval of Yuma.