At a small Roman Catholic church in Northwest Indiana, the faith of its parishioners is a little stronger these days. That’s because they believe something miraculous happened to one of their members...a young woman from Chicago. And they say her story is important for another reason. Because it shows how hard it is for undocumented immigrants to access life-saving medical care. IPR’s Michael Puente has the story.
(Maria’s daughter reading to her…)
23-year-old Maria sits at her kitchen table as her young daughter reads to her.
(More reading…)
We’re not using Maria’s last name because she and her husband entered the country illegally 8 years ago.
Maria doesn’t understand English but just being able to sit up and listen is a feat in and of itself.
And she can do other things now.
Maria: I’m able to walk. I’m able to exercise. I can eat anything I want. I can do everything.
(cue dish washing ambi…)
Just a couple of months ago, all the mundane and routine activity that most of us take for granted --- like washing dishes --- was impossible for her to do.
That’s because Maria was sick.
Very sick.
Maria says she always felt weak -- even as a young girl in her native Michoacan, Mexico.
Two years ago, Maria found out her kidneys weren’t working and she needed emergency dialysis.
MARIA: I was living because of the dialysis. Three days a week for three hours. I came out feeling very tired and dizzy. I just didn’t feel well.
Eventually, she was told by doctors she needed a new kidney.
Under normal circumstances, getting an organ transplant is a dicey proposition.
But Maria’s immigration status made it even more difficult.
MARIA: I was going to look for a donor and put my name on a waiting list but they couldn’t because I’m undocumented.
BUSTOS: She just told me. She says I’m going to die.
That’s Jose Bustos.
He runs Casa Santo Toribio, a center that provides services for those who are undocumented.
It’s part of St. Mary’s Catholic Church, a parish of some 3-thousand mostly Mexican families just over the state line in East Chicago, Indiana.
BUSTOS: When you hear a 21, 22 year old young lady tell you that she’s going to die and she’s afraid that she’s not going to be able to see her family, it’s heartbreaking.
Bustos started searching for a donor within the congregation who might be a biological match.
He came up empty.
Maria didn’t give up hope.
MARIA: I have faith in God and the Virgin Mary. And I would always ask to give me another opportunity.
That’s when St. Mary’s Pastor, Father Stephen Gibson got involved.
GIBSON: I knew nothing about it. We just wanted to help her and so I and others investigated what was her blood type and things like that. And, I decided to do it just out of curiosity.
Father Gibson has been the pastor at St. Mary’s for 20 years.
The Oak Park native comes from a large Irish-Catholic family.
So Jose Bustos didn’t think Gibson could help.
BUSTOS: I said father, I’m Mexicanand we didn’t match. What makes you think, a caucasian person, that you are going to match?
But, as they say, the Lord works in mysterious ways.
Father Gibson got word from a doctor.
GIBSON: He sent me a message saying this is from God, you’re 100 percent compatible.
MARIA: I was in dialysis when I got the news. I was crying over the news that I got a donor and that I have someone for the kidney.
GIBSON: I wanted to do it so when I found out I could, then there was no question. Not for the slightest moment.
The transplant was performed in April at Northwestern Memorial Hospital by Dr. Juan Caicedo.
He says ethnicity doesn’t determine who can donate and receive organs.
CAICEDO: Everyone, beneath our skin, we’re the same. You can be African-American, Asian, Hispanic or Caucasian, all of us we’re kind of similar under our skin.
Caicedo, who heads Northwestern’s Hispanic Transplant Program, says it’s hard enough finding a willing donor.
CAICEDO: The decision to help somebody else. You know, this doesn’t happen every day. He’s a priest. It’s a huge act of love.
But others aren’t so lucky.
About 100-thousand people in the U.S. need an organ transplant every year.
But fewer than 1 in 5 actually get one.
In Illinois alone, 300 people die every year waiting for an organ.
Kevin Cmunt (Cee-munt) leads Gift of Hope, a nonprofit network that secures organs in Illinois and Northwest Indiana.
He says the half million undocumented immigrants living in the Chicago area actually helps increase the odds.
CMUNT: We all benefit when our entire community participates in donation, So, it’s not that a non-citizen receiving an organ is taking one away from anyone. I see it as a larger pool of organs that frankly gives more people a chance to get transplanted.
But even if you find a donor, there’s still the issue of how to pay for the operation.
For Maria, she was able to obtain private insurance coverage through the efforts of Northwestern.
Today, as she recovers from the procedure, she says she still lives in fear of being deported.
But her new kidney has changed everything.
MARIA: The day after the transplant, you feel like life has returned to you. You have a new life.
Back at the church in East Chicago, parishioners like Jose Bustos call what happened an act of God.
BUSTOS: El Milagro en Indiana. The miracle in Indiana. And, this miracle in Indiana gave a new lease to the life of this young lady.
(fade outdoor ambi)
I'm Michael Puente.