It is impossible that as human beings we can be impartial in a case like this. Anita was a 67-year-old woman, a resident of the community of Vistas del Valle, near our Padre Pio chapel.
She lived alone, because for a long time she suffered from domestic violence by her husband, beating and mistreating her because of the anxiety he had in his job. The man died, leaving Anita without a livelihood.
To get ahead, she decides to go sell clothes at the market, becoming more and more comfortable in her venture, which along with the hustle and bustle of sales she forgot her ex-husband’s abuse.
One of many days when she returned home happy after a successful day, she arrived home. She was not expecting visitors, and she notices that they are knocking on the door. She was not given time to think about who was behind the door, because as soon as she opened her home she received a blow to the head that left her on the floor, fainting. When she regains consciousness, she finds a man with a balaclava covering his face, who was sexually abusing her, receiving another blow to the head as soon as he realized she had woken up. When this evildoer was finally gone, he stood up from her in the middle of her living room, where there was a pool of blood emanating from her.
According to medical reports, it is estimated that Anita spent a full week receiving this abuse. This harsh situation made her bring back memories of her that tormented her, to the point of her no longer leaving her house for fear of her abuser. She went through a period of strong desolation: she didn’t eat, she didn’t drink water, she didn’t feel encouraged like before, she felt criticized, judged, she simply didn’t want to live anymore.
It was not very common for her to talk to her neighbors, but they were surprised that from one moment to the next she disconnected from everything about her, stopping them from seeing her for months.
During the pandemic, Ms. Anita began to present the typical symptoms of covid. She gathers courage, and leaves her house going to one of her neighbors to ask her to take her to the hospital.
She was examined, she did not have the feared disease of the time, but the doctors obtained evidence of the abuse she had suffered. The doctors confirm the case of abuse with her, but Anita decides not to do more about it, simply attending to her respiratory discomfort at the Tijuana General Hospital, as well as the different injuries caused by everything that happened to her. Because the Hospital is known for how expensive it is, Ms. Anita stopped attending to her case, staying locked at home again.
One of the neighbors who found out about the case notified Dr. Joseline Velázquez, coordinator of the Health Program, telling her that there was someone in her community who needed the help of the Health team.
At that time, the doctor went to visit Mrs. Anita. Her condition had deteriorated to the point where she was skinny, weighing 25 kilograms, in a state of malnutrition because she had been suffering from stomach problems. She didn’t have the strength to continue, or to live.
The medical work arrived on time, because if it had taken longer, Ms. Anita’s suffering would have been fatal. She underwent all kinds of studies to determine what was happening. She had anemia, and was infected with Hepatitis.
The doctors of the health program did not leave her on her own, but accompanied her in every step of her recovery process, not only those who gave her medication, but also those who accompanied her so that she felt listened to and increasingly free. .
She managed to restore her weight to 50 kilograms, and live peacefully the rest of her life. At the age of 66, she was diagnosed with a tumor that was hidden in her stomach. She ended up in the hospital in serious condition.
She was able to reunite with her family, and asked them to contact the doctors from the Health program to visit her. In her words, the doctors were her angels, because they did not leave her alone, and they were always there to support her. Minutes after being visited by the team, she died. She left this world happy to have spent the last years of her life accompanied by her angels.
The Health program serves thousands of people with different stories, but they all come to the same point, that the benefits of the program are substantially high, and that the work is carried out 100% despite the shortcomings.
We invite you to support more people like Ms. Anita, who, through your generosity, managed to increase her quality of life exponentially. Please, we need your help to make people’s lives better, to the point that we have a better society.
Leave a Reply