A Parent’s Pain

Melany lives in Guatemala. Her mom Ana said got scared one day when she noticed a lump on her daughter that she hadn’t seen before, recounting, “I was giving her a bath and I saw and felt a lump the size of a grape on her groin. I was very scared.”

Melany’s dad Antonio also said his daughter seemed to cry when she was walking and playing.  Antonio recalls, “Every time she played with her brother she seemed to be in pain, she would lie down and start crying.”

Melany’s parents took her to several doctors—who diagnosed a hernia.  Unfortunately, they couldn’t confirm it because the lump had retracted behind the abdominal muscles.  They recommended a test which cost over. Antonio told us he only earns about $10 a day, explaining, “If I paid for that test that would mean that my family would have to without food.”

One day, the pain got so bad they rushed her to the emergency room.  Ana recalls, "At the hospital, they said they couldn’t find anything and sent us home.” Antonio painfully conveys, "Seeing my child suffer is the worst thing."

A few weeks later they heard about a hospital that partners with Operation Blessing.  There, YOU made it possible for us to pay for the test her parents could not afford and for the surgery to repair the hernia. The operation was successful and now Melany is running and playing without pain. Her mom Ana happily and gratefully says, “I feel like you have given my baby a second chance at life. Thank you, Operation Blessing.”