The Miracle of Life
The Rodriguez family was living a normal, happy life. The young couple had one two-year-old son and another child on the way. That all changed one day in August when the loving husband and father, Jairo, was involved in a horrific, work-related accident; a concrete wall fell on top of him, crushing his skull.
His life hung in the balance. But Jairo, was a survivor and he had the love and prayers of his adoring family. After nine months and two surgeries, this loving father and husband returned home to his wife, Jessie, son, Noah, and newborn baby, Isaiah. When The Granted Wish Foundation heard of this family's struggles, we were there to ease their burden.
The foundation delivered countless bags of groceries, household items and baby needs to last the family for a long time. Jairo and his sons were there when the delivery was made. The miracle of life stood before us with the biggest smile, the warmest heart and never-ending gratitude for helping his family.
"My name is Jessie Rodriguez. In August 2007, my husband, Jairo, was in a horrible accident. He was doing construction work for a company in Maryland when a concrete wall fell on top of him. It caused a blood clot on his brain and a large portion of his skull had to be removed due to the swelling. He did not have health insurance but performed the surgery because it was an emergency. Nine months later the swelling had finally went down enough to perform the surgery to put that portion of his skull back on. However, this surgery was not an emergency and we could not afford to go through with the surgery.
Several newspapers, churches and businesses in our area heard about our story and contacted us trying to help pay for the surgery and our trip back up to Maryland. After only having seven days to come up with the money, an anonymous donation came in at the very last minute allowing us to go ahead with the surgery.
I was off of work for almost two weeks while I was taking care of Jairo and our two children. (He takes care of them while I work.) Even after I returned to work, I could only be at a part-time level because my husband still could not walk very well or see completely. As if the surgery had not been bad enough, I had no idea how I was going to make ends meet with being off of work like I was. I had only been working there since Thanksgiving so I was also fearful that my job may not be secured when I was ready to go back.
One day I was at home taking care of Jairo's staples from the surgery, wondering how I was going to get formula and diapers for our four-month-old when we heard the knock at the door. It was two women that I had never met from an organization called The Granted Wish Foundation. Some of my co-workers had gone to them with my story. Not only was I told to take off all the time that I need, but they had bags and bags AND BAGS of groceries and things that I would need, including diapers and formula. This could not have come at a better time.
I was under enough stress just with the surgery, but worrying about how you're going to feed your family is a totally different type of stress. Thanks to the wonderful people at The Granted Wish Foundation, I did not have to add that worry to my list. Thank you so much."
Sincerely Grateful,
Jessie Rodriguez
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