DENVER — It look two-and-a half months for Yenitza Sanchez and her family to arrive to the United States after embarking on a difficult journey from Venezuela.
“We slept on the street, went through hunger and cold,” Sanchez said, in Spanish.
They decided to leave everything behind in search of a miracle for their young daughter, Hosnely.
Hosnely, 8, has Down Syndrome and was born with an enlarged heart and lung problems. Her mother said only one of her four heart valves is working.
Sanchez said they’d been searching for a life-saving surgery for Hosnely since she was born, but it was difficult to obtain in Venezuela.
“The doctors told me they were impressed after hearing her journey to get here when they saw her condition,” Sanchez told Denver7, in Spanish, “The doctors told me her condition is very delicate.”
Sanchez said since her daughter’s condition is so severe, Children’s Hospital Colorado offered her a year of health insurance to cover her surgery.
“Truthfully I feel thankful for that. I feel very blessed, I had been seeking that surgery for years, and here, I found it, it was one of the reasons I came,” she said, in Spanish.