Meli and Fidel Covid Recovery Fund

UPDATE:  We have uplifting news to share - Lilia's father, Fidel, has survived Covid!  Fidel is now able to breathe on his own, stand up, walk around the house and relax in his favorite chair in the living room.  The nurse providing in-home care is an incredible young man named Adolfo, who will continue to support Fidel 24/7 for a couple of more weeks until Fidel is fully recovered.  All of this has only been possible because of your prayers, generosity, love and support. We are deeply grateful to each of you who paused and responded to our call for help. We are extremely blessed to have such an incredible circle of family and friends who carried us through these very challenging times. Love and blessings to all!



UPDATE: In the last four days Lilia’s father, Fidel, continues to make small but significant strides towards a complete recovery from covid. While Fidel remains unable to get up from bed by himself and do many of the daily activities we all take for granted, he is able to sit up and rest with less discomfort.  Because of your love, support, prayers and positive energy, he now has the care of an in-home nurse/care provider staying with him for the next 30 days to administer medications, prepare meals and support him as he continues to recover. This photo was taken earlier this morning when Fidel momentarily removed his oxygen mask to send a thank you message to all of you. He told us that his heart feels tremendous gratitude for each of you.  We believe Lilia’s mother, Meli, his life-partner of 40 years, continues to watch over him...and he will fully recover.



UPDATE:  After some 20 days of battling covid, I am happy to share with you all that Lilia's father, Fidel, has survived! Thanks to all of your prayers, positive thoughts and financial support, Fidel is getting stronger each day. Here is a photo of Fidel from earlier this morning sitting up in bed on an oxygen concentrator machine. Two weeks ago Fidel could not sit up, would not eat and had difficulty resting. Now he is eating 3 times a day, able to sit up, and sleeping soundly through the night. Lilia is now focused on lining up in home care for the next 30 days so Fidel can fully recover. From our family to yours, we are extremely grateful for all the love, support and kindness we have received from so many people. Thank you!

UPDATE:  On Saturday, December 26th, Lilia and her brothers laid Meli to rest near her home in Ciudad Morelos in Baja California, Mexico. Lilia's father Fidel continues to show signs of improvement, and plans are being made for his long term care. We thank you all for your generosity. Because of your financial support, Lilia and her siblings have been able to focus on getting the best care possible for both Meli and Fidel. We hope to have more positive news about Fidel's condition in the coming days.


Original Post:
For the past week our family has been in crisis mode. Lilia's parents, Meli (60 years old) and Fidel (65 years old), contracted Covid over a week ago and have been battling for their lives. Meli and Fidel live in a small border town just south of Yuma, AZ, in Mexico. Medical resources - doctors, nurses, equipment, medicines, oxygen and other treatments - are difficult to come by. And when they are available, the costs are so high, you pause, realizing that most people in this border area who are stricken with Covid die because they could never afford such treatment. We've gotten this far only because Lilia, and her siblings, Caty and Mario, have traveled to Mexico to take immediate action. Lilia is now spearheading the daily effort to obtain resources and focus the best medical professionals on her parents' needs.

Meli and Fidel spent most of their adult life raising four children and working the fields as farm workers - from picking grapes in the Coachella Valley to lettuce in Yuma. Back in the 80's, Fidel even worked as an organizer with Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers in the fight to improve working conditions for all farm workers. Last year Meli completed over 40 years in the fields and for the first time in her life, stayed home to rest her body and recover from all those years of back breaking work. Nothing prepared them for covid. The costs keep accumulating, $4,000 each for special drug treatment/cocktail, hundreds of dollars each day for 24/7 nurse care, medical equipment rental, oxygen tanks, chest x-rays, and over $10,000 more for a doctor to take them on as patients. Meli and Fidel are being treated in their home which has become a version of a field hospital. They have been unable to get into local hospitals, which are full, despite more than one effort in the last week.  But they may be in the best situation possible given that everyone they know admitted into the local hospital died, and once admitted, the family loses the ability to communicate with them.

Given the improvement they both have shown over the past 24 hours, there is hope for them to fully recover. Fidel's condition has stabilized and he now needs mainly meds and rest with an oxygen concentrator to recover.  After suffering a minor heart attack on Tuesday morning, Meli's oxygen levels have recently elevated to where she is almost back to normal. While the family has poured every resource into this effort, we now need help to get us through the next several days, which are critical.

On behalf of Meli and Fidel's children - Lilia, Caty, Fidel and Mario - we are asking you to give what you can to support Meli and Fidel to cover the out of pocket costs to date and treatment for the next 7-10 days. With your generosity, Meli and Fidel can survive covid, live to enjoy their family and see their two grandchildren, Stephanie and Leonel, in 2021. Si Se puede!