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Father Honors Daughter's Legacy Through Photography

By Joel Hillan

PARKER, Colo. (CBS4) - A Parker father's determination to honor the legacy of his daughter is touching lives in ways he never imagined.

He's honoring her by using his camera to capture for others those moments he'll never have with his daughter again.

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"I'm never going to hear her call me daddy again," said Johnnie Medina.

In July, Johnnie Medina lost his oldest daughter Mikayla to suicide.

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"There are so many things now that happened that I'll never be able to do with her," he said through tears.

While planning for Mikayla's funeral, Medina realized he had a lot of great pictures of Mikayla, in a studio, professionally posed, but not enough of her as he remembered her.

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"I know first-hand how painful it is not to have those photos, not to have those memories that really speak to who they are," he said.

So he created "Through the Lens", with a mission to provide free photos of the terminally ill; capturing all those moments that make up memories.

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"Through the Lens started expanding so many people were contacting me that wanted to volunteer as photographers to do this, people were donating money to the organization, people I've never met," Medina said.

A company has even donated a logo design and promises to build a website.

All of this in Mikayla's memory, reminding us that every moment in time, every second, every minute, is precious.

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"Don't take anything for granted, don't take tomorrow for granted, capture as many moments of your family as you can," Medina said.

Medina has a GoFundMe page set up to help with the project. He can be reached via email at johnniemedina@hotmail.com.

Joel Hillan anchors CBS4 This Morning on weekends as well as reports stories for CBS4 News at 5 and 6 p.m. Follow Joel on Twitter @joelhillan.

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