Sandra
Sandra is the first child of Reynaldo and Karen, both 20 years old, of La Paz, Bolivia. Both parents come from impoverished backgrounds and were unable to study beyond high school. Reynaldo earns around $170 dollars a month apprenticing with a bricklayer. The family of three lives with their extended family who pool resources to cover essential household expenses.
When Sandra was three days old, the pediatrician who tended to her birth started to realize that she was very unwell and ordered her transferred to a specialized facility, where she was diagnosed with a range of heart malformations. Sandra needed surgery immediately to correct aortic coarctation and accompanying defects. A German foundation based in La Paz, Kardiozentrum, assisted the young parents as they struggled to grasp the situation. On their behalf, Kardiozentrum contacted Puente de Solidaridad to schedule surgery in Cochabamba. Given her fragility, they also arranged to fly Sandra to Cochabamba.
Reynaldo pleaded with the Puente de Solidaridad social workers for help: “I’m devastated. … I want to understand this situation, and I am willing to make any sacrifice for my daughter. Money is what we don’t have, but she has a chance at life. Please, I beg you to help me save the life of my little girl.”
Solidarity Bridge’s most experienced partner heart surgeon in Bolivia, Dr. Carlos Brockmann, operated with his team at the prestigious Belga Clinic on September 5th, when Sandra was just 3 weeks old. She stayed 10 more days recovering in the hospital. The family remains living with relatives in Cochabamba while Sandra gets strong enough to proceed to a second needed surgery. To date she remains stable, and everyone is hopeful she can get through her second intervention and eventually live a normal life.