April 2008 - Baby Daira

Luz Carrillo knew that something was wrong with her baby Daira. When she was released from the hospital after giving birth everything seemed fine. But her concern grew as she realized her baby’s legs just didn’t look right. Her doctor agreed and ordered x-rays. The x-rays showed both of the baby’s hips were displaced and if the condition was not corrected, Daira would be crippled for the rest of her life.

Not having the means to pursue further treatment, a distraught Luz brought Daira, who was a month old at the time, to our medical clinic at the Food Bank in Juarez. “Can you help my baby?” she pleaded. Jim Gallagher, who takes care of these complicated medical problems which are beyond the scope of our little clinic, told Luz, “The first thing we would need is x-rays.” “Oh, I already have those. I’ll run home and get them now.” Jim took the x-rays to a doctor in El Paso who told us that it wasn’t a bone problem but that he wanted to see the child right away. Jim arranged the necessary permissions to cross the mom and baby, and after the examination the doctor sent them over to a place that specializes in prostheses for babies. They fitted Daira with a special harness and gave instructions to Luz on how to use it and what it was supposed to accomplish. Luz is very bright and caught on fast, and with an appointment to come back in three weeks, she headed back home with Daira all rigged up.

After the three weeks were up, it became clear that Daira needed to see a specialist. An orthopedic surgeon from El Paso, who does volunteer work at a hospital in Juarez, agreed to see the baby. When the surgeon examined Daira he told Luz, “We need to act right away. The longer we wait, the worse her condition will be. I want to see her in El Paso to operate on her next week.” Sick with worry, the family wondered how they would ever be able to pay for even a fraction of the cost of surgery. Jim Gallagher assured them we would help in any way we could. The surgeon made arrangements with a hospital in El Paso and the procedure was scheduled for a week later. This was remarkable because usually it takes us months to get all those details worked out, and even more remarkable, everything was being done free of charge!

The morning of the operation, Jim crossed Luz and Daira and got them to the hospital in plenty of time. The medical staff fell in love with this precious baby who smiled at everyone. Thanks be to God all went well. The surgeon put a cast on Daira from the waist down which has to stay on for 6 weeks, but when that cast comes off Daira will be able to crawl, pull herself up, and walk like any normal baby would do. Luz can’t wait for the day!