|
Mexican Mom Gives Birth In Medical Helicopter http://www.dailystar.com/dailystar/metro/78400.php
A.E. Araiza / Arizona Daily
Star Elva Hernández never imagined she'd give birth to a son in a medical helicopter flying over the Arizona desert. The 29-year-old woman, who was seven months' pregnant, felt contractions and went into labor after walking in the heat, rain and in the cold of night for nearly 20 hours as she and her family tried to illegally enter the United States. Hernández, her children, and her husband were abandoned by a smuggler soon after she went into labor. Last Sunday, she gave birth in the helicopter minutes after being rescued by U.S. Border Patrol agents. She and the premature baby, Christian, a new U.S. citizen, were taken to Tucson's University Medical Center. The infant is stable, but remains in intensive care. Hernández left the hospital Tuesday. "It's a miracle that we're alive," said Hernández, a native of Jalapa, Veracruz. Her husband, Primitivo Bautista, 32, and their two older sons, Alejandro, 14, and Daniel, 12, along with their niece, Luz María Hernández, 12, were staying at the Ronald McDonald House last week awaiting Christian's release. The Mexican consul in Tucson arranged their stay at the house, which provides no-cost temporary shelter to families of children with special medical needs. The cost of Christian's medical care is still unknown, said UMC spokeswoman Katie Riley. But with neonatal emergency-room care costs of up to $3,000 a day, the total can mount quickly. If the family can't pay the bill, it will be absorbed by the hospital and passed on to consumers and taxpayers. It's a cost American citizens shouldn't have to pay, said Wes Bramhall, president of Arizona Immigration Control, an organization opposed to illegal immigration and immigration reform. "We cannot accept all these people crossing into this country to give birth to babies. She was seven months' pregnant. … She should have stayed in her country and given birth in Mexico," said Bramhall. He blamed Mexico's economic failures and the U.S. failure to enforce its immigration laws for the situation. William N. Johnston, who heads the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Citizenship and Immigration Services in Tucson, said Christian's birth on U.S. soil makes him a U.S. citizen under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. When the child turns 21, he can petition to legally bring his parents and siblings to the United States. The solution is "a humane law" to help people who are already here be reunited with their families without risking their lives, said Jose Matus, director of the Tucson-based human-rights group Derechos Humanos. "It's an unfortunate part of U.S. policies," said Matus. "If the law would permit her to stay and work she would pay her hospital fees and the taxpayers wouldn't have anything to complain about. But instead she will be deported with the newborn." 6 failed attempts in 5 weeks Elva Hernández said she and her family arrived first at Nogales, Sonora, where they hooked up with a smuggler whom they paid $4,500, the first half of the fee he charged to take them to Chicago. Over five weeks they made six failed attempts to cross at Nogales, Naco, Agua Prieta and San Luis, before their seventh attempt near Sasabe, Sonora, the morning of May 28. The crossing began with her children chatting excitedly about their new lives ahead. "But as we walked, the hours seemed to be longer and their excitement began to change”, she recalled. As they walked in the heat with their niece, their 25-year-old cousin, Hugo Méndez, and nine others, the Bautista-Hernández family became dehydrated. The soles of Elva's feet burned, and her younger son, Daniel, said he cried because his feet hurt and he could not keep up with the adults. At one point in the desert, they smelled a strong odor. "It was a dead body!" said Luz María Hernández. "And his eyes were missing!" The group continued in silence. That night all 15 rested briefly and ate canned tuna, said Bautista, Hernández's husband. Back on the trail, it began to rain. They stopped but then continued so their muscles would not cool down. Elva Hernández felt pain and asked the smuggler to wait. He said she was tired and the group continued despite her moans. She thought of the body. "I could see myself in the middle of the desert, abandoned." Sometime in the early morning hours of May 29, Hernández said, "I felt wet between my legs and I knew there was something wrong”. She could not go on. The smuggler told the family to walk to the highway to look for help, then left them behind. Alejandro, the oldest son, and his cousin went for help. The others stayed with Hernández in the rain. After several hours of walking, Hugo and Alejandro found a road, and at about 8 a.m., they waived down a passing Border Patrol vehicle, said Border Patrol spokesman José Garza. With Alejandro's help, a Border Patrol helicopter pilot found the family a short time later. He guided other agents to the family's location. A Life Flight helicopter was called in and by midmorning Hernández was on her way to University Medical Center, said Garza. Hernández gave birth to the baby boy minutes after the helicopter lifted off. Now safe again, Hernández said she has a promise to keep, the one to the Virgin of Guadalupe, that if her family survived, they'd go home to Mexico. "I'm just waiting for them to give me my baby and off we go." ● La Estrella reporter Alma Hernández contributed to this story. Contact reporter Analilia Esparza at 573-4597 or aesparza@azstarnet.com. |
