Published Friday December 24, 2004
Girl's heart surgery testament to Mexican family's strength
BY ALEXIS CHARBONNIER, WORLD-HERALD CORRESPONDENT
ACAPULCO, Mexico - Her heart may have been weak, but the love and support 2-year-old Janecita Duarte Camacho gets from her family is strong.
The child, who successfully underwent surgery Thursday in Omaha, has struggled with heart problems since birth.
But the strength she's shown in fighting her illness reflects the strength of a family that has known struggles of its own.
Her grandmother raised eight children. Two live in Omaha: Javier and Lupita. Five live in this Mexican state of Guerrero. The eighth, Janecita's mother, Sandra, has been in Omaha since September seeking the life-saving procedure her daughter needed.
Janecita's father, Isidro Duarte Andrade, 32, is manager for a small telecommunications equipment store. A law school graduate who has never practiced, he works 13-hour days to help pay for Janecita's medical care.
The family has been unable to pay for all her care because the girl has been sick every week for a year, with hospital bills running over $1,000 for three-day stays.
Janecita was born with her left main coronary artery attached to the pulmonary artery instead of the aorta. As a result, her main pump did not function properly. A valve leaked. Mexico's public hospital system was no help, Duarte said.
A cardiovascular sonography class at Nebraska Methodist College took the lead in fund raising after the students learned of Janecita's plight during a local medical conference. So far the effort has raised about 80 percent of the $50,000 needed for surgery at Children's Hospital.
Instructor Mary Lawry, serving as spokeswoman for Janecita's family in Omaha, said Thursday's surgery went well.
"It's really wonderful," she said. "It's kind of unbelievable, really."
As she spoke, nurses were taking Janecita from the operating room to the intensive care unit for recovery. Her family was on their way to see her.
"It's been a journey for them," Lawry said. "Literally, as well as figuratively."
Asked in an interview last week about Janecita's future, her father said: "I'm going to work until I drop. Our top priority is her education. She'll start pre-school soon after she gets back. That's why I'll never stop working. She's all I live for."
To better understand where Janecita comes from, visit her grandmother's house. Getting there requires a 150-foot climb up a slippery, muddy hill on Mexico's Pacific coast to a gritty colonia, or neighborhood, far from the glitzy beachfront and five-star hotels.
Leocadia Gutiérrez Villaseñor, 57, Janecita's grandmother, is a homemaker who sells frozen treats to supplement contributions from her children.
Janecita's grandfather abandoned the family 11 years ago. Nobody knows where he is. Even so, the family managed to build an adobe house, which was spackled and painted five or six years ago.
"Javier - who is now a legal immigrant - went to the U.S. illegally just to put a roof on our house," Gutiérrez said. "My kids went through so much just to lay the floors. Look around you . . . it took us 25 years to build this!"
The Camacho Gutiérrez home fills with neighborhood children every year on Dec. 24, when the family throws a Christmas party for local kids, said Crescencio González Hernández, 33, a neighbor.
While Acapulco's colonias can be hard places, the family's troubles turn to gratitude and smiles when talk turns to Janecita. And the family has been deeply moved by the outpouring of support from Nebraskans.
"I'm at a loss for words to express my gratitude for what has happened to my daughter. I keep asking myself: 'How did we ever come up with $50,000 in two months?'" her father said last week.
"Thank you for helping someone you didn't even know, save her life. May God send you many more blessings," added an aunt, Lorena.
Looking toward Janecita's surgery, her grandmother said, "I place my faith in our Lord and the Virgin Mary. I'm extremely worried. I've gone days without eating. But this little girl just inspires so much love. People love her more than most."
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World-Herald staff writer Christopher Burbach in Omaha contributed to this report. You can join Unsolved Mysteries and post your own mysteries or
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