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(Expansion) - Bernardo Campos rarely takes off his hat. For five years, he usually brings it in every march, protest or meeting, such as those that have been made in recent days to keep alive the requirement to find the 43 normalist students of Ayotzinapa missing since September 26, 2014.
The 61-year-old man, father of the normalist José Ángel Campos Cantor, is an example of how the anguish has taken the bill to the health of the relatives of the 43: he suffers from diabetes, hypertension and kidney problems, which is reflected in the yellowish tone of his skin and in his tired eyes.
Felipe de la Cruz, a spokesman for the parents, warns that other parents face similar situations and, despite this, they all stand firm in suing the Mexican authorities to find their children, wherever they are.
“Many fathers and mothers, really all, are very sick, with diabetes, high blood pressure, hypertension, skin problems, cataracts. In truth, they are in a very bad situation, ”says the spokesman.
“(Despite this) we have never lost faith. Sick or whatever, we are always present. All this has brought serious consequences to the health of all of us who are part of this movement, ”he adds.
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"Already two parents died"
In the five years that have passed since the disappearance of the 43 - which happened after they were attacked by Iguala police officers linked to organized crime -, to their precarious economic situation the parents had to add the concern to find their children and, In the long run, a diminished health.
Even two of them have already died since the date of the crime: Minerva Bello Guerrero and Tomás Ramírez Jiménez.
Minerva Bello Guerrero, mother of Everardo Rodríguez Bello, died last February because of the cancer she suffered. Hilda Legideño, mother of the normalist José Antonio Tizapa Legideño, tells Expansión Politica that the woman gradually began to lose weight and walk more slowly, but she insisted on looking for her son “until his last breath”.
Tomás Ramírez Jiménez, father of Julio César Ramírez Nava - who is not among the 43 missing, but was one of the three students who died from the shooting of the police in Iguala - died early in the morning of December 1 last year , although the reasons for his death have not been made public.
"Already two parents died and without answering what happened," says Hilda.
“We have all got sick with so much news that they give us almost every day, many things that we have not been able to (endure)… how to explain so much pain as we have. Parents have diabetes, hypertension. Diseases continue to appear, ”he laments.
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"The disease does not make us give up"
Among the parents who have survived the tragedy, some of those with health problems are Bernardo Campos and Hilda Legideño herself.
Due to diabetes, Bernardo doctors decided to amputate two toes of his right foot and his condition is delicate, says Felipe de la Cruz, who relates the deterioration of the physical condition of relatives with the anguish, despair and sadness of looking for their children.
"(But) that does not make us give up to continue demanding truth and justice," insists the spokesperson.
Meanwhile, Legideño suffers from high blood pressure and doctors have asked him to remain at rest, but for her to go out and look for her son is the priority.
“We decline, some parents come to activities, others stay at home. Diseases continue to appear, all depression, but here we go, the many or the few, ”he says.
"There are times when depression I think affects us and we lie, but the need to know about our children does not allow us to stay at home," he adds.
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"In some cases they give us medicine"
Before, the parents of the normalistas had to face their illnesses by themselves, that is to say, to pay their consultations and to buy their medicines. Now, the current federal government since March provides support through the Ministry of Health (SSa).
"They are serving us for this new government and in some cases they give us the medicine, although the service is not always provided correctly," says Hilda.
The woman also says that, due to their health problems, some parents have had to absent themselves from some marches and demonstrations, but they all hope that the authorities will obtain the whereabouts of their children.
These hopes have been revived after new lines of investigation into the case were announced. For example, one of them is the review of the municipal dump of Tepecoacuilco, located just 10 minutes from Iguala and that until now had not been considered as a possible search site.
“We know about that line, but they haven't told us if there are results. We hope that this is not true (that the bodies of the normalists are there), because it is like reviving the Cocula dump; we hope to find our children alive, but if they have to check, then let them do it, ”says Hilda, who - like all parents - asks society not to forget the crime against 43 or leave their families alone.