Chattanooga: Shriners Hospital to Help Guatemalan Infant

By Perla Trevizo, Chattanooga Times/Free Press, Tenn.

May 8–When Guatemalan native Lubia del Cid was detained three weeks ago by immigration officials at the Pilgrim’s Pride chicken-processing plant in Chattanooga, she thought the chance to give her children a better life was over.

Instead, her 3-month-old daughter Kemberly, born with Poland Syndrome, which causes webbed fingers and weakened arm muscles, will get the care she needs in the United States.

“The only thing I could think of when I got detained was my two babies,” said Mrs. del Cid, who in addition to Kemberly also has a two-year-old daughter, Ashley. “Kemberly needs a lot of medical attention, and all I could think of was what would happen to her if I have to take her back to Guatemala with me.”

On Wednesday, she received word that the Shriners Hospital in Lexington, Ky., would take Kemberly as a patient. Shriners Hospitals specialize in orthopedic, burn, spinal-cord injury rehabilitation and cleft lip and palate care and are funded through donations, according to Wonda Rice, director of community relations for Shriners in Lexington.

“She can’t hold her head up; she’s missing three ribs from the upper rib cage and has a hand malformation,” Mrs. del Cid said. “It hurts my heart to see her like this. I just want her to be able to lead a normal life.”

The Salvation Army East Lake Corps, which has served as a direct-care center for people affected by the Pilgrim’s Pride arrests, helped Mrs. del Cid fill out the forms last week to send to Shriners.

“This is really magnificent news,” said Major Kelly English, pastor of the East Lake Corps. “This does my heart really good. Kemberly’s quality of life will be changed forever.”

Kemberly was born prematurely and weighed only 4 pounds 8 ounces. Before birth, doctors told Mrs. del Cid that the baby would have Down Syndrome, but afterward they diagnosed her with Poland Syndrome.

Since the time she was born, Kemberly has been in and out of the intensive care unit at Erlanger hospital, and she now goes to physical therapy at Erlanger once every two weeks, Mrs. del Cid said.

On July 15, Kemberly will go for her first evaluation at the Lexington hospital, which provides medical and rehabilitative services to children with congenital deformities, problems resulting from orthopedic injuries and diseases of the musculoskeletal system, according to its Web site.

“On an initial visit we would make a full assessment of not only orthopedically what is wrong with the child, but the family dynamics, the support system,” Ms. Rice said. “The care that we give is called Family Center Care. You can’t take a child and only treat the single orthopedic condition of the child. We look at the whole (picture) when we are setting up a plan of care.”

One of the best things about Shriners’ care is that the children are patients until they turn 18, Mrs. Rice said.

“We look at the child as a whole, how can we help the family help the child be successful, and the neat thing is that we see them grow up,” she said. “We want them to grow up, be successful, be all they can be.”

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