Posted on 02/28/2003 1:52:54 AM PST by kattracks
They lost their daughter to a botched transplant - now Jesica Santillan's heartbroken parents are scared to take her home to Mexico to bury her.Magdalena Santillan and Melecio Huerta will reluctantly bury Jesica Santillan in North Carolina, a family spokesman said.
"The mother was upset, but she understands if she leaves the country she might not be able to come back," said Mack Mahoney of Louisburg, N.C. "That's just the way it is."
The family paid thousands to be illegally smuggled into the U.S. in 1999 so Jesica could get proper care for her rare cardiac condition.
The family is working to legalize its immigration status, said Mahoney, who added that its members still are considered illegal aliens.
Jesica's parents had hoped to bury her in their hometown of Arroyo Hondo, a hardscrabble Mexican village in the western state of Jalisco, and had turned to the office of Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.) for help. However, they could not gain assurances that they would be allowed back into the U.S.
But now they've decided her funeral will have to take place in North Carolina.
"They want to live here - even if the doctors did kill their kid," Mahoney said.
After years of waiting, Jesica received a heart-lung transplant by a team at Duke University Medical Center on Feb. 7.
But the 17-year-old was mistakenly given organs of the wrong blood type, leaving her critically ill. A second transplant was performed two weeks later, but Jesica suffered severe brain damage and died last weekend.
On Wednesday, Jesica's body lay with a rosary twined in her fingers, surrounded by stuffed animals inside a white coffin, as mourners in Louisburg remembered her as a lovely, loving girl.
"She always wanted to be famous because she loved people," said cousin America Santillan. "And she wanted to know the world, and for the world to know and love her. And through this tragic situation this wish of Jesica's has become true."
With News Wire Services
TRANSLATION: They are illegal aliens. But what does Mahoney care!
No matter the reason they came here, illegal is illegal; if for humanitarian reason, they may have applied and received temporary visa on that basis. They chose the illegal way. Perhaps Mahoney should look for others with desperately ill children who need help. The mother's comment about "murderers" chased away any sympathy from me.
Everyday, in the United States, there are 16 Americans that die because of a lack of transplants.
Where are the tears for the two Americans that had their chances to live stolen by these illegal alien opportunists?
Gosh, I hope not! He seems to always be tossing gasoline on the fire.
The mother's comment about "murderers" chased away any sympathy from me.
I think she got that idea from Mahoney.
And the mother's refusal to allow Jessica's organs to go be donated to help others is what distroyed any sympathy I had for these people. Seems like they demand a lot but are willing to give nothing themselves!
Since you were all so quick to claim that helms getting her a humanitarian visa made she and her family legal.
Hello, INS, they are illegals, they have admitted it, pick em up and deport them. For once, just once, do your jobs.
What in the world are we paying cops at all levels to do? Write tickets? Here you have a woman admitting to being and illegal immigrant, a criminal and the INS, FBI, NC State cops, on down sit on their hands. Why have they not been arrested and deported? Can someone please tell me why they have not been arrested and deported?
Look, I'm sorry they lost their daughter, but, what has that got to do with their being allowed to stay here as self admitted illegal alien criminals?
Don't we have enough criminals in the USA? We need to bring them in from Mexico?
US Border patrol, read my lips, seal the border and if you are to frightened to do that, atleast pick up these admitted illegal immigrants, put them on a Greyhound and send them back to Mexico.
FBI, INS, Border Patrol, N.C. State police all of them are nothing but cowards, they should all be ashamed and fired! By their refusal to arrest and deport these criminals, they are criminal in their neglect of duty.
As far as I am concerned, they killed 2 Americans: one who would have gotten the first transplant, and one who would have gotten the second.
Deport them with the body.
They didn't come here for that reason, it was just one of the many lies in this whole story. Besides they offer heart transplants in Mexico, it'd be interesting to know if they ever attempted to obtain it there. I think they came her for an easy life where everything would be handed to them. I have a feeling Mahoney just wants to guarantee himself an unlimited supply of cheap labor which doesn't expect health insurance from him.
More than two! Transplants usually involve only one organ. She used six.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.