Good Samaritan Jemina Garay fight for her life

Please help Good Samaritan Jemina Garay as she fights for her life—and her children!

On Wednesday, February 22nd, 2023, Jemina Garay, a veterinary technician at Value Veterinary Clinic in Harlem, NY, was shot in the head, back, and buttocks as she attempted to break up a domestic assault in her apartment hallway. The shooter, who was assaulting his girlfriend, pulled a gun and fired as Jemina scrambled to get in her apartment and take cover.

Jemina is 41 years old, a mother of 6, and grandmother to one-year-old twins. She is currently in a coma in the ICU with major injuries to her skull and brain.

The assault happened at 8:30am, minutes after she kissed her husband goodbye on her way to her shift at Value Veterinary Clinic, where she has worked for several years. Prior to working at Value Vet, Jemina has spent 20 years in the NYC veterinary community, working for several private practices all throughout the city, The Country Vet, CVC, Washington Square Animal Hospital, Heart Of Harlem Veterinary Clinic as well as helping care for the shelter animals at Animal Care and Control. Jemina is a valued member of the team at Value Vet Clinic where she has helped countless animals and their owners, assuming every role necessary and growing with the practice and her team. She is known to comfort, listen, advise, and provide a calming presence for her clients every day when they are at their most vulnerable, and she protects and consoles her patients, big and small, with all the love she has. Jemina is an empathetic and sincerely kind person who gives the best advice with the wisdom that only comes from being an experienced mother. She enjoys passing along all her ginger shot recipes which apparently can cure any ill, and is involved with animal rescue groups, having recently fostered a little orange tabby kitten with her daughters, joining her two other cats and rescue pitbull.

Veterinary professionals in NYC will know Jemina from the many roles she’s played at The Country Vet with Dr. Devincentis and Center for Vet Care - both on the Upper East Side, as well as Washington Square Animal Hospital, where she spent 6 years, and Heart of Harlem Veterinary Clinic. She has worked hard to build a strong legacy in this field, and we want desperately for her to come home and continue building on that legacy.

This GoFundMe is started in hopes of raising money to provide some support for Jemina’s family at this time. Any additional funds raised will go towards starting a 529 college savings account for her daughters. Jemina has spent her whole life taking care of others, even those without fur!

Help us show Jemina and her family how much the veterinary community comes together to support each other in moments such as these.