By james art 
The city of Hialeah is honoring the legacy of two Cuban-born doctors by naming a local road.
On Friday, Hialeah Mayor Carlos Hernandez, District 12 President Jose “Pepe” Diaz and other elected officials honored doctors Jorge Wayejo and Carlos Wayejo by renaming West 18th Lane to West 84th Street. The new name is Dr. Jorge and Carlos Vallejo Way.
A gesture that family and friends say will keep his memory alive forever.
“Sometimes we name many streets. The mayor and I have this job, but let me tell you, this one is very special. Not just because of the people sitting here in front of me, but because of the two gentlemen who represent this name and this street,” Diaz said.
“The legacy I leave behind is us, my brother and I, we’ll both be doctors, my sister will be a nurse. We’re going to carry on his name and carry on the Wyejo legacy,” said Charles Wyejo, Carlos’ son.
Dr. Jorge Vallejo and Carlos Vallejo died just days after contracting the coronavirus last year.
Jorge Vallejo was a prominent and beloved OB/GYN in Hialeah. Vallejo was born and raised in Guantanamo, Cuba, where he became an outspoken critic of the late Fidel Castro’s revolution. Until 1965 he fled the island with his wife and two children aged two and three and settled in the city of Hialeah.
After passing his medical board exams, he began practicing at Hialeah Hospital and delivered thousands of babies over the years of his practice. In 1992 Jorge Vallejo gave birth to what was believed to be the smallest baby in the US, born at 22 weeks and weighing less than a pound.
His son Carlos, who worked in internal medicine, believes that Carlos was infected first while working during the pandemic, and that he was the one who passed the virus on to his father.
Carlos was hospitalized on June 27, 2020, the day his father, a beloved 89-year-old retired obstetrician, died of COVID-19.
Carlos died a few days later on August 1.