A Bolivian girl and her grandmother gain new life through a visit to the United States sponsored by Children’s Heart Project, a medical ministry of Samaritan’s Purse.
Six-year-old Dara and her grandmother, Judi, knew no life outside of La Paz, Bolivia; their family had lived there for generations.
When Dara was born premature, the doctors didn’t initially notice anything out of the ordinary with her heart. But a month later, Dara’s life was hanging in the balance. She was placed on oxygen for four days before she was seen by a pediatric cardiologist who diagnosed her with a congenital heart defect—there was a hole in the wall of her heart.
“As a family, we’ve been experiencing a lot of loss for many years. The news that Dara had something wrong with her heart was very hard for us. We lost our faith. We thought God was punishing us, that He had abandoned us. We thought that there was no hope,” Judi shared.
Doctors couldn’t agree whether Dara’s life was in danger or if the hole would eventually close on its own. Her family didn’t have the money to pursue further treatment or surgery, and Judi felt helpless knowing there was nothing she could do for her granddaughter.
“It was hard for me watching her grow up. She wasn’t able to run, to play like the others, and I was very frustrated because I wanted the best for her,” Judi said. “We used to call her our ‘glass child’ because she was so overprotected and carefully looked after.”
When Dara was 3 years old, they were referred to a cardiologist in Bolivia who connected them to Samaritan’s Purse and Children’s Heart Project.
Judi couldn’t believe someone was offering to bring Dara to the United States, cover the cost of her surgery and appointments, and provide a home to stay in while she recovered. That someone would love her family that much—without ever meeting them—was unfathomable to a woman familiar with loss.
“We weren’t able to believe it was true because it was hard to believe that something good could happen to us,” Judi said.
After her surgery, Dara displays her heart’s new strength by jumping on a trampoline.
When they stepped off the plane in Sacramento, California, they found their host family, an eager group of five, smiling and waiting with open arms.
“I remember when we stepped onto the escalators and saw Sergio’s family down below—they were waving and cheering, and we were waving back. We didn’t know them, yet we could feel that energy as they welcomed us. It was such a lovely thing to have a family—even though they were strangers—welcome us, host us in their home, and look after us,” Judi said.
Hospitality and Hope Overflow
Sergio and Lisa Brizuela were first contacted by Children’s Heart Project two years ago about being a host family, but it wasn’t the right timing for their family with three young kids. When they were approached again earlier this year, Dara and Judi seemed like the perfect addition.
Host Lisa became a surrogate mother to Dara before surgery and during the recovery process.
Sergio speaks Spanish, but for Lisa the language barrier has felt impenetrable at times except for the love she could convey through her actions, care, and dedication to the Lord.
“One of the things that Judi said before attending church on Sunday, was that she has Jesus in her heart, but she doesn’t feel the need to attend church,” Lisa said.
While she appreciated their kindness, Judi wanted nothing to do with the Lord, whom she saw as a mean God who had taken so much from her life. Slowly, God used the Brizuela family to pour love into the cracks in her own heart. Judi decided to join them at church.
Judi and Dara studied Scripture nightly while in the Brizuela home.
The very first Sunday Judi and Dara spent in California, the pastor of Sergio and Lisa’s church happened to be finishing a series on Job. Judi, with the help of the Children’s Heart Project translator, was able to understand every word. As it ended, she quietly reflected, “I feel like my life is like Job.”
After Dara went to bed each night, Judi, Lisa, and the translator would gather around the table downstairs and read the Bible together. One night Lisa was reading through Philippians 4. She realized Judi had never heard the story of the Apostle Paul and how similar it might be to what she has faced all her life.
“He knows what it’s like to live with a lot and then also to live with nothing and that the secret to being content is that you can do all things through Christ who gives us strength,” Lisa said.
Lisa’s words penetrated somewhere deep within Judi. The family’s consistency in their faith was like nothing she had ever seen before.
“They live their religion in a very different way. These people read their Bibles, they understand the Bibles, and they practice what they are reading,” Judi said. “Lisa is a person who has great faith, a great love for God. And I realized I need to be on that path with God.”
Trust Instead of Fear
Dara’s surgery took place less than a week after she arrived in California. As Dr. Teimour Nasirov, pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon at Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento, explained all scenarios with this surgery, including the risks, Judi felt fear try to take hold of her. Watching Dara go into surgery took a courage Judi didn’t know she had and left her realizing that she had been relying on herself rather than God for far too long.
The Sutter Health team, including therapy dog Feather, encouraged Dara surrounding the procedure.
“When I said goodbye to her when she went into the operating room, the fear was that her tiny, frail, little body wouldn’t be able to handle it,” Judi remembered. “I knew I had to say goodbye with a smile because she shouldn’t go into the surgery feeling sad; she needed to see that I was calm and she kept looking back at me right up until the moment she left. That’s when I felt this emptiness. It was as if I were letting go of something, as if I were being left all alone.”
Lisa stood by her side the entire time, a surrogate mother to Dara and a newfound friend. The doctor eventually came out and shared that everything had gone well with Dara’s surgery. Unparalleled joy and peace washed over Judi as she gave thanks to God.
At Sutter Health, Dara listens for the heartbeat of a doll.
“It is a feeling of immense gratitude—primarily to God for having chosen me to be with her through this journey and for giving her a chance at life,” Judi said.
Dara’s care was supported by a multidisciplinary pediatric heart team within the Sutter Health system, with specialists in cardiology, cardiothoracic surgery, anesthesia, nursing and rehabilitation working together throughout her treatment and recovery.
Her operation marked the third collaboration between Children’s Heart Project and Sutter Health to provide life-changing heart surgery for a child. Together, the organizations helped connect Dara and her family with the specialized care she needed.
Dara thanks Dr. Nasirov, her surgeon, for healing her heart.
“We walk home and we know we’ve done something good,” Dr. Nasirov said. “In Dara’s case, it’s changing her life expectancy, helping her lead a happy, fun life.”
Health More Than Skin Deep
While Dara’s life is physically changed as they return to Bolivia, something has healed inside Judi, that no surgeon could ever have repaired.
“I am returning to Bolivia with a healthy girl who has a chance at life. I am grateful to God for that immense blessing, and I will share His Word and ensure that my children and family know that there is a God—a God who has not abandoned us, who has been with us despite everything we have been through. This has been reflected in Dara, because He was the one behind Dara’s surgery,” Judi said.
Judi looks forward to continuing to tell Dara as she grows about the team of people who gave her new life.
Dara is living the life she always should’ve had, bouncing on a trampoline with breath in her lungs, a smile on her face, and not a care in the world.
“After the surgery, she started to gain more self-confidence because the fear that something might happen to her was gone,” Judi said. “She’s back to being a normal child—playing and doing the things a child does.”
Now Dara can run and play like other children.
As they left Dara’s final appointment at the hospital with hugs and well-wishes from all the staff who had come to know the sweet, humble little girl who received a new outlook on life, Judi was already thinking of what she’ll say to Dara one day about her time in California.
“I want her to know that she came to another country where she was helped and healed; where there was a group of people—Samaritan’s Purse, the doctors, and the hospital who welcomed her unconditionally and cared for her,” Judi said. “I’m the one who will remind her that she must always be grateful to all the people who gave her life—a new life.”
Dara is grateful to Samaritan’s Purse and the team at Sutter Health for healing the hole in her heart.
For the pediatric heart team at Sutter, caring for Dara was more than a successful surgery, it was a reminder of what is possible when clinical expertise and organizations like Children’s Heart Project come together to remove barriers to care.
“Thank you for trusting us to take care of Dara because we know it’s not just her but all the lives that she’s going to touch going forward, including all of our team’s lives. She has inspired all of us,” said Megan Gillespie, chief executive officer of Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento.
As the journey to healing that has taken six long years comes to an end, Judi’s heart is overflowing with gratitude and Dara’s is made whole.
“Children’s Heart Project has shown us that it is possible, that there is opportunity, that God exists, that God is with us, that God places people in our path, and that God’s love is real and great—the very love that is sustaining my granddaughter and me right now. Thank you for everything,” Judi said.
