Adrian
Adrian was born on May 23, 2017. His paternal grandmother passed away the next day of cancer. Adrian’s father, Boris, had gone into debt and even sold most of the family’s assets to pay for chemotherapy to treat his mother’s illness, to no avail. While his wife Maria del Carmen was pregnant, Boris had also lost his job. Heavily in debt and unemployed, it was an especially heartbreaking blow to hear the news that Adrian was born with a congenital heart defect. He needed surgery as soon as possible to close the gaping hole between his heart and lungs that had failed to properly seal off on its own at birth.
Through the Solidarity Bridge/Puente de Solidaridad Heart Program and thanks to the generous support of Dharma Social Programs, on July 24, 2017, Adrian underwent surgery performed by Drs. Barrientos and Jaldín at the prestigious Incor heart hospital in Santa Cruz. After three nights in the hospital, he was strong enough to go home. The young family is living with the baby’s maternal grandmother, a professor, who is covering their living expenses until Boris can find a new job. The family is incredibly grateful to have been spared either the loss of their precious child, or another burdensome debt. In addition, the understanding and support they received from the Puente de Solidaridad social workers, in what had been one of the darkest moments of their lives, has given them new hope as they look forward to watching their son grow and thrive.