Bradycardic, hypotensive, hypothermic, hypoglycemic and septic… when we found William, he was just over a month old and just barely 4 pounds.
Along with a myriad of other problems, he was suffering from marasmus, a severe type of malnutrition. His mother was unable to produce breast milk as she, too, was starving. The area that we brought him from was very familiar to me, and locals call it “Corridor Seco” or “The Dry Corridor” as it’s in the middle of a 6 year drought and food / clean water is hard to come by. In fact, just 2 months prior I had been to the exact same village about 4 houses down to bring back another kid.
I was already emotional going into the trip. We had originally set out to bring back a premature 3 pound baby, but had gotten word that she had passed away before we could make it to her. In the midst of all that happening, we had gotten the call about William.
He looked terrible when we arrived and I was immediately worried that he would not make the difficult journey back. He was cyanotic and his legs felt like ice even in the warmth of the Guatemalan heat. My fears were confirmed less than 10 minutes into the journey… I was frantically performing CPR on his tiny body, the whole while desperately crying out to God to please let him survive, that I couldn’t bear to lose another one in the same day.
The 2 1/2 hours back to Hope of Life was one of the longest 2 1/2 hours of my life– with many resuscitations performed. Even when we arrived back here, I was performing CPR while Dr Ana Lucia successfully started an IV after the 8th attempt. (And we’re good at IV’s too.)
When we transferred him out to a higher level care hospital, I feared that I may never see him again.
Today… he came back to Hope of Life. His momma and I both burst into tears when we saw each other.
Here are some before and after pictures:
A week or so ago, I was talking with the Safe Haven Families… and Patti Monk and Jessica Holt had said “we witness miracles every day here… miracles of healing and provision. But the BEST miracle we see is when we see a spiritual transformation… when someone passes from death and comes alive in Christ.”
I pray that one day William and his mother may come alive in Christ, and I am so. very. humbled / emotional / happy that William has survived to have that opportunity one day.
All glory to God,
–Whitney
Update Feb. 7, 2018 (one year later)
