The parents of an immigrant girl who died while being detained by the United States Border Patrol said that the staff ignored their help.
Her family said that on May 9th, when they were detained by border patrol near Brownsville, Texas, Anadith Reyes Á lvarez was running happily when she learned that they were going to the United States.
Anadith is an 8-year-old girl whose parents say she plans to become a surgeon one day.
In an exclusive interview, Mabel Alvarez and Rosell Reyes were interviewed by GMA3, the first time since they buried their daughter.
”She wants to help other children with problems, “her mother told Gene Benitez of ABC News.
During the six month journey from Honduras, her parents tried to convince her that she was on vacation. They will take her to the zoo and the parks along the way. Reyes said they took the safest route to the United States to ensure that Anadis and her siblings were not harmed. Alvarez said that she died on May 17. Only eight days after she was detained by the Border Patrol, the journey of a family of five to the Texas border ended in a devastating way.
Alvarez said that she repeatedly asked to be sent to the hospital, but was refused by the customs and border protection officers, and her daughter died in her arms.
Alvarez said that she had shown medical records to several CBP personnel. She said that these records showed that Anadis had a history of sickle cell anemia and heart disease, but she felt that some personnel were not interested in viewing these documents.
“They asked me, ‘What’s wrong with your daughter?’ But I replied, ‘No, she’s not sick, but I don’t want her to be sick,'” Alvarez said, telling CBP. If you don’t understand what I mean, these documents can help you understand her condition
CBP stated that Anadith complained of abdominal pain, nasal congestion, and cough on May 14th and tested positive for influenza. Medical staff provided Anadis with flu and nausea medication and transferred the family to a border patrol station in Harrington, Texas, which is used to treat detainees who require medical isolation or have come into contact with infectious diseases. Her family said that during her detention in Harrington, Anadis’s condition began to worsen and she began to experience breathing difficulties.
Alvarez said that she asked to send the child to the hospital. The staff told her that her condition did not seem serious enough to require an ambulance. She said she felt that the medical staff believed she had lied about the severity of the child’s illness. She said Anadis told the staff, ‘I can’t breathe through my mouth or nose.’
“They told me in some authoritative way that the child was fine. I kept looking at her and saying she was not good,” Alvarez said.
A survey conducted by the Office of Professional Responsibility of the United States Customs and Border Protection shows that between May 14th and 17th, “medical personnel reported approximately 9 contacts with the girl and her mother, who complained of fever, flu like symptoms, and pain.
According to preliminary CBP review, on May 16th, she had a fever of 104.9 degrees. The US Customs and Border Protection said that the staff provided her with ice bags, antipyretic drugs and cold water showers.
Despite the girl’s condition, her mother’s concerns, and the series of treatments needed to control her condition, the contracted medical staff did not transfer her to the hospital for higher-level care, “the US Customs and Border Protection Agency said in a statement
According to the US Customs and Border Protection, a Nurse practitioner “refused three or four requests from the girl’s mother to call an ambulance or send her to the hospital”.
Alvarez said that when she asked again to send her daughter to the hospital and return to the area where she was detained, Anadis seemed to become paralyzed. Reyes said he believed that when she made eye contact with him through the waiting area window, she had already swallowed her last breath.
“I took a few steps and the girl died in my arms because I held her. My daughter died,” Alvarez said.
OPR reviewed that by 1:55 p.m. on May 17, Anadis “seemed to have Seizure” and became unresponsive, so he called an ambulance. OPR said that medical staff “started Cardiopulmonary resuscitation with the help of automatic external defibrillator, but did not recommend any defibrillation”. The doctors at the Harrington Valley Baptist Medical Center announced her death at 2:50 pm
OPR’s review said that there was no medical staff or border patrol personnel at Harlingen Station to interact with Anadis, and her mother “admitted to knowing that she had sickle cell anemia or a history of Congenital heart defect”.
The contracted medical personnel did not consult the on duty doctors (including the on duty pediatricians) regarding the girl’s condition, symptoms, or treatment. The contracted medical personnel did not record a significant amount of medical experience, emergency fever relief interventions, and drug management, “said the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency.
The preliminary investigation also found that a Nurse practitioner “refused” to view the “pile of documents” owned by the family, but gave the girl a folic acid tablet at the request of her mother.
The agency announced that since then, the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has prohibited some medical service providers involved in the incident from working within CBP facilities.
Cassandra Gonzalez said, “She told every official, every person she came into contact with, every person she might have heard about her daughter’s health history, including offering to share her actual medical records, but she was ignored.
