The little girl given the wrong heart and lungs now may have irreversible brain damage. One stupid mistake by the hospital administration has cost this girl her life.
But there's more to the story, something that isn't getting a lot of play in the press.
Jesica had a heart deformity that kept her lungs from getting oxygen into her blood. Relatives have said her family paid a smuggler to bring them from their small town near Guadalajara to the United States so she could get medical care. She waited three years for organs to become available.
She was here illegally. Brought here by her mother for surgery unavailable anywhere else.
Three years ago, immigration officials were threatening to deport the family until Mahoney traveled to Washington and spoke with then-U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms, a Republican. The senator made some calls, and the Mexican family was then left alone, Mahoney said. Now they are in an amnesty program and are applying for residency, he said.
First, we have a girl brought into this country illegally, in order to receive treatment she couldn't get in Mexico, and couldn't pay for her. Next, through a completely outrageous screw up, she gets improperly matched with organs of the wrong bloodtype. The rejection destroys the heart and lungs, and she's placed on life support. Next, miraculously, another set of organs is found and Jesica gets another chance at life, but it's too late. Irreversible brain damage occurred while she was on life support. It's only a matter of time before brain death is diagnosed.
There are so many levels to this story, I hardly know where to begin. Organs are in desperately short supply. Why would an illegal immigrant, no matter how cute and innocent, get a place on that list? I've argued against national healthcare, saying that healthcare is a privilege, not a right. Others have disagreed, saying that health care is a basic human right, so I challenge them by asking if we should drop our standard of healthcare to the world average, using the surplus to help other countries elevate their standards. Universally, I've heard this response, "We can't save everybody; we have to look after our own first."
Unless the others manage to smuggle themselves through our borders, right?
Yeah, I know, I'm an inhuman bastard for pointing this out. But I'm 'looking after my own first.' My heart breaks for this girl and her family, but even more for the family of the kid who didn't get this heart, and died while waiting.
So what happens next? The Santillans' will get a good lawyer, and the hospital and transplant team will be sued for millions, and rightfully so. The lead surgeon should be suspended for violating hospital policy. The Santillan's will get a pile of money from the settlement and permanent visas, but lose their daughter; the hospital and their insurance company will lose a pile of money; two kids somewhere lost out on organs they needed to live another day. Looks like everybody loses.
It's a nightmare.
Posted by Rich at February 21, 2003 10:05 PM | TrackBackBut consider:
If the first transplant had worked, everybody would be happy because the girl had been saved. Plus, we probably would've never heard of it.
Then, if the second transplant had worked without the brain damage occuring, everyone would've been happy (and the hospital would've been slightly less unhappy, as its likely the parents would've been slight less pissed). And the girl would've been saved.
The bottom line is that one person's life is no more precious than another. Whether the girl is an illegal Mexican immigrant, a suburban teen from Cleveland or an inner-city kid from Philadelphia, each is human and each deserving a chance to live.
True, apparently Helms was bought off by something - maybe not money, but surely something - and allowed her to jump ahead in line. I'm sure it's no consolation to the families of other kids who could've used those organs but had things gone smoothly on the operating table and on life support, a child's life would have been saved. And the vast majority of people, uninvolved observers with no personal stake that we are, should not dwell on this.
Posted by: Barry on February 22, 2003 12:21 AMAmerica has turned into the worlds whore. Come on over!, We will give you organs, amnesty, millions of dollars...welcome aboard!! Good point about the nations media NOT REPORTING THE ILLEGAL ENTRY. I'll bet you any amount of money that Dateline and 20/20, maybe even 48 hours will have their nose buried in this story next week. I wonder if they will bother divulging the truth behind it?
Posted by: Justin on February 22, 2003 4:52 PMI pray for Jesica and all of you/us.
Posted by: SK Bubba on February 22, 2003 7:32 PMI agree SKB. I don't have any easy answers for this. Do we throw out a sick kid because she isn't supposed to be here? I know I couldn't do that, but I couldn't face the parents of a kid from Philly who was bumped down the list for this girl either.
It's the old lifeboat dilemma made horribly real. (The life boat has room for two. Who do you save, your wife or your child?) There is no good answer.
The only good that can come of this is if more people sign up as organ donors.
Justin, I wish we could afford to heal the world's sick. I don't think that makes us a whore by any means. I believe we need tighter immigration laws, and better enforcement of existing ones, but I'll tell you this. If Jesica had been my daughter, I'd have done whatever it took, legal or not, to get her the care she needed.
And I guess that's the bottom line; I can't condemn somebody for an act that, given the same circumstances, I would do myself.
Posted by: rich on February 22, 2003 9:48 PMYes, the bottom line is that a parent will do anything they can to make their child better. They were able to get her treatment. They did what they had to do. Everybody should have access to quality healthcare. If there were a way, I would like to see it happen.
Posted by: skycry on February 23, 2003 1:15 PM