She was at the point of losing all hope that her precious daughter would be saved. For a while she had been able to carry the child on her back to school but now she was bigger and the hot days made it impossible. She could no longer attend school or play with the other kids. The other children even laughed at her and called her baby.

Eleven year-old Nereyda suffers from a heart problem and she happens to live in a country where pediatric heart surgery simply isn’t available. The disease is taking its toll. Mom knows it was just a matter of time before she would lose the love of her life.

There had been a brief period of hope many months ago when they heard about another child who had a heart problem and was treated in the United States. They were invited by a friend to attend the child’s first birthday party so they could ask the parents how their child was able to get treated. Unbelievably, the parents could not remember the name of the organization or the name of the hospital. However, the mother did bring three simple pages of medical information with them and someone at the party said they were going to California and would pass the information on to a hospital they knew treated kids for free. However, hope quickly turned to despair when the months went by and no one contacted them.

It was the beginning of Lent and Nereyda told her mother that she was going to fast and pray in hopes that God would send her the help she so desperately needed. Oh, for the faith of a child!

Meanwhile, it was a catch up day at the Mending Kids office. Papers were being filed, reports written, etc. when we found an envelope between two papers. Forgotten were the papers delivered by our dear friend Sam who is a valued volunteer at our local Shrine Hospital, as well as a volunteer for us. It seems someone dropped them off at the Shrine hospital, thinking they would treat the child. Unfortunately, Shriners does not perform heart surgery. The papers sat for a while before someone thought of Sam and our organization and asked him to deliver them to Mending Kids. They sat even longer in our office.

The papers gave us medical information but so little other information. Luckily, written on the side of the envelope were a phone number, but not a complete one, as it didn’t have the city code or country code. Our Spanish-speaking co-worker, Suhaila, started making phone calls in hopes we could figure out the missing numbers.

Nereyda was already on day two of her fast when she answered the phone. Since the mother was out for another hour, Suhaila simply left a message stating she was calling from the United States and would call back in an hour or two. When she did call back she talked to a mother who was in awe. It seems that when she returned, Nereyda and her sister were jumping with joy. She told her mother about the phone call and then said, “Mama, it’s my miracle. I know it is.”

Mending Kids International has been able to arrange all medical care for this child. However, Nereyda joins other children who have been accepted but who are unable to come because we do not have enough host families or the money for the transportation.

A half miracle won’t save Nereyda’s life. Would you like to be the answer Nereyda’s prayer? If so, please give us a call. We can promise you won’t regret it.