Last week Bladimir Gomez Ramirez turned twenty-one years old. I’m racking my brain trying to remember exactly when I first met him. I recall the event vividly. I just can’t remember the date. It had to be during my trip to Rubio in 2003 or 2004. Anyway, Bladimir had to be thirteen or fourteen at the time. Gaby Andrade, her fiancé Rubén and I visited Rubén’s aunt in the La Palmita district of the city. During our visit in the open central court of the home Bladimir appeared. His disfigured face was startling. The left side of his face was huge and deformed and I have to admit now that I was taken aback. When he spoke though, it was apparent that he was a bright young man. Who could imagine then how our lives would cross.
You can imagine Bladimir’s life as a young boy carrying this burden. He had endured several operations in Venezuela to treat the condition and nothing more could be done there. The Help and Hope Center was a place of refuge for him. It was a place that he could just be another kid.
In 2005 we were asked if any organization in the United States would help Bladimir. Tom Colandrea, a friend and Andean Aid supporter took the lead in finding help. Initially all we received were rejections.
In August 2006 Andean Aid teamed with International Kids Fund in Miami, Florida to bring Bladimir to the United States for treatment. Andean Aid provided all transportation, visas and passports for both Bladimir and his mother Aydee Ramirez Ballesteros. He had been separated from his mother since age two but he needed a guardian to travel to the United States. Also, his mother is Colombian and could not travel from Caracas. So, Andean Aid arranged for Bladimir’s dual citizenship and he came to this country under a Colombian passport. This arduous process took eight months and many miracles. Bladimir and Aydee arrived in Miami on April 6, 2007.
International Kids fund provided all medical treatment at the Holtz Children’s Hospital and the Bascom Palmer Eye institute at the University of Florida Medical School. Dr. Jesus Gomez, a renowned maxillofacial surgeon performed the treatment. Dr. Gomez’s original estimate for the extensive reconstruction was three surgeries over six months. This turned into seven surgeries over two years. Ronald McDonald House became their home away from home.
Bladimir returned home to Rubio, Venezuela on October 13, 2009. Today he enjoys sports, especially soccer, plays music and works at the control panel of a radio station affiliated with Andean Aid. He has many friends and participates in Vida Joven routinely. The transformation in this young man’s life has been miraculous.
