Jesus
Jesus is the fourth of five children of Edil and Eloina from the town of Quillacollo, a suburb of Cochabamba, Bolivia. Edil and Eloina started their family very young, but both work long and heavy hours, Edil driving heavy cargo trucks and Eloina running a produce shop, to strive toward a middle-class standard of living for their family.
Jesus was diagnosed with a heart murmur soon after birth, but the doctors told Eloina it would likely resolve on its own. But as he entered adolescence, Jesus was diagnosed with Ebstein anomaly type C, a rare malformation of the heart's tricuspid valve. Because the defect had gone untreated for so long, it had impacted the structure and functioning of the rest of his heart. Jesus' mother traveled to La Paz hoping to register Jesus for a heart surgery campaign at the public children's hospital there. But the especially challenging open heart procedure her son needed was not performed there. The family was eventually referred to Puente de Solidaridad, whose social worker approved Jesus as a beneficiary of care through the Solidarity Bridge heart program.
Jesus himself spoke with social worker Marizol: "I do very well at school, but my teachers know my heart is bad and they tell me I can't participate in sports. It makes me sad, because all my other friends have normal lives. I really want to be cured. I know my parents are anguished by everything I'm going through. Thank you for this possibility."
Jesus underwent surgery on March 13 at the Belga heart clinic in Cochabamba. The family is relieved and grateful for all the support.