'Todos x Benicio', the campaign that seeks to raise funds to operate on the heart of a 3-year-old boy

Julio Rodriguez

08/01/2021 19:08

• Clarín.com

• Society

Updated 08/01/2021 7:24 PM

Benicio is

3 years old

.

He was born in Santiago del Estero and already when he was in his mother's womb he was

diagnosed with a complex congenital heart disease

: hypoplastic left heart syndrome and multicystic renal dysplasia of the left kidney.

His first heart surgery was at 5 days old, the second at 5 months, and the last at 2 years.

As soon as he was born, he was transferred to Buenos Aires. There

they operated on him 3 times

, without much progress. Now, at 3 years old, the doctors told him that in Argentina there is not much more that can be done. But parental love

can do much more

: Miguel and Belén, their parents, started the "Todos x Benicio" campaign, got in touch with children who had suffered this disability and managed to find

Boston Children's Hospital

, in the United States, where They were told that they

can operate on it with "groundbreaking surgery

.

"

"But we

need almost 200 thousand dollars that we do not have

. That is why we have started this campaign, we sell tortillas and chipacos, we do raffles, we go to acquaintances, but nothing is enough. For this reason, we have opened an account to appeal to the

solidarity of the people and see if we can raise the money to operate on Benicio

, "his father Miguel Navarro (30) commented to

Clarín

.

Benicio had the operation scheduled for June 29, but

since they could not raise the money, the operation was canceled

.

Now, his parents, via email, are trying to reschedule the operation and in parallel, they are trying to raise the money.

"Todos x Benicio" is the motto of the fundraising campaign organized by Miguel and Belén, the parents of the 3-year-old boy.

Benicio was born in Santiago del Estero, had a prenatal diagnosis and was referred to Buenos Aires at five days of life to perform heart surgery and initiate the palliative process that is required to treat this pathology.

He was hospitalized for two months due to postoperative complications that required a second surgery.

Upon discharge, he returned home with a nasogastric tube and many medications.

Again at 5 months, he underwent surgery, with an unfavorable postoperative period since there were not many changes in his condition, he continued with polymedication and feeding with a nasogastric tube.

When he was 2 years old, prior to his third and last surgery, on December 9, 2019, he underwent a cardiac catheterization. The doctors informed his parents that Benicio did not meet the necessary conditions to continue the palliative process due to valve insufficiency and ventricular dysfunction. At this point, there was no longer any treatment available for him and they decided to return home and

began palliative care "to await death

.

"

Miguel explained to

Clarín

that "it is not a whim to go to Boston (United States) to operate on Benicio."

And he added: "It is

the only place where they do this surgery

. There are children who have already had it and have experienced the same thing that we are going through."

Now, they are in Buenos Aires, waiting for the media to "give us a hand" with the dissemination of the case.

Miguel is a private electrician and now he is out of work, "I walk from here to there" and Belén Lange (33), is a housewife.

In addition, they have 3 more girls: Agustina (16), Brisa (13) and Mia (11), who stayed with their grandmother.

Miguel explained to this newspaper that

Boston Children's Hospital

has a long history in treating patients as complex as Benicio and offers innovative surgery to improve and have a better quality of life.

"In this surgery they will repair his tricuspid valve."

The cost of this surgery of

US $ 192,265.00

, plus

travel

,

lodging

and food expenses for Benicio and his parents.

"We are not going to lower our arms, we are struggling to raise the money, but so far we have not had much success."

Miguel said that they have

only raised 300,000 pesos so far

.

Santiago del Estero.

Correspondent.

MG

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