Miriam Grace and Lorelei Rush
Donation protected
NICARAGUA, CHRISTMAS DAY—Miriam Grace Rush was born severely premature at 29 weeks, weighing exactly 1,000 grams. We, her parents, Lorelei “Bing” de la Cruz-Rush from the Philippines and Paul Rush from Delaware, are Catholic lay missionaries. We are knocking on your generous hearts to help us raise funds to pay for our continuously escalating hospital bills.
Four days before she was born, I was confined in the hospital because my chronic high blood pressure reached 180/100. Two days later, I was discharged. Then on December 25, 2016, I was again rushed to the hospital because my blood pressure was an even more dangerously high 180/110. At this elevated blood pressure, the risk of the placenta abruptly separating from the uterus is very high. If that happens, the baby can be saved, but I could die a slow, painful death from internal hemorrhage. There was no other choice but to undergo an emergency C-section to save the baby and me. So baby Miriam Grace came into the world three months too early, and we were suddenly thrust into parenthood when and how we had least expected it.
While I was discharged from the hospital after four days, Miriam Grace is still fighting for her life every day at the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). We almost lost her when her right lung collapsed, and she has battled sepsis (blood infection), jaundice, and thick phlegm in her lungs, and has lost a lot of weight after birth. She also has a hole in her heart and a hemorrhage in her brain, which the doc hopes will heal on their own. Every day is a grueling struggle for our frail but feisty Christmas miracle baby.
While she has the best neonatal specialist caring for her at the most advanced hospital in Nicaragua, everything comes with a huge price. As of Feb. 17, our hospital bill has skyrocketed to US US$42,387.46, excluding doctors’ fees. So far we have paid US$36,160.00, thanks to family, friends, and strangers whose generous hearts have been moved by our situation. The doctor estimates she could be in the hospital for 10 more days.
Depending on the doctors’ fees, we could be looking at a staggering US$80,000 by the time our precious little angel is ready to come home with us. As a missionary couple, we honestly do not know how we could pay for all these life-saving treatments except through God’s providence manifested in the compassion of people around us.
While we are willing to do anything to save our daughter, many times all we could do is pray and beg for a miracle that her life be spared. We know that many people will not be able to understand our radical decision to leave very comfortable jobs to serve the Church full-time. Yes, we had “real jobs” in the past: I as a college professor, and my husband as a landscaping contractor. With our savings we had been trying to start a small business when our little daughter came, but that money has long been spent helping to save her life. And now that our time is spent pumping breast milk and visiting her thrice a day at the NICU, it is impossible to get jobs now that we are staying so far from home. Nevertheless, we feel that our call to mission stands despite the incredible odds we face today, because the Church desperately needs workers to tend its proverbial vineyards. Guadalupe Gardens, the missionary formation center founded by my husband in 2006, is a place where foreign lay missionaries can stay to learn how to be missionaries while serving the poor as Jesus did, revitalizing the missionary identity we have as Christians.
Please help us continue supporting our precious daughter, the world’s youngest missionary, whose very life has now become intricately woven into the life of our mission. We will be forever indebted to you for helping our little Christmas miracle come true.
Four days before she was born, I was confined in the hospital because my chronic high blood pressure reached 180/100. Two days later, I was discharged. Then on December 25, 2016, I was again rushed to the hospital because my blood pressure was an even more dangerously high 180/110. At this elevated blood pressure, the risk of the placenta abruptly separating from the uterus is very high. If that happens, the baby can be saved, but I could die a slow, painful death from internal hemorrhage. There was no other choice but to undergo an emergency C-section to save the baby and me. So baby Miriam Grace came into the world three months too early, and we were suddenly thrust into parenthood when and how we had least expected it.
While I was discharged from the hospital after four days, Miriam Grace is still fighting for her life every day at the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). We almost lost her when her right lung collapsed, and she has battled sepsis (blood infection), jaundice, and thick phlegm in her lungs, and has lost a lot of weight after birth. She also has a hole in her heart and a hemorrhage in her brain, which the doc hopes will heal on their own. Every day is a grueling struggle for our frail but feisty Christmas miracle baby.
While she has the best neonatal specialist caring for her at the most advanced hospital in Nicaragua, everything comes with a huge price. As of Feb. 17, our hospital bill has skyrocketed to US US$42,387.46, excluding doctors’ fees. So far we have paid US$36,160.00, thanks to family, friends, and strangers whose generous hearts have been moved by our situation. The doctor estimates she could be in the hospital for 10 more days.
Depending on the doctors’ fees, we could be looking at a staggering US$80,000 by the time our precious little angel is ready to come home with us. As a missionary couple, we honestly do not know how we could pay for all these life-saving treatments except through God’s providence manifested in the compassion of people around us.
While we are willing to do anything to save our daughter, many times all we could do is pray and beg for a miracle that her life be spared. We know that many people will not be able to understand our radical decision to leave very comfortable jobs to serve the Church full-time. Yes, we had “real jobs” in the past: I as a college professor, and my husband as a landscaping contractor. With our savings we had been trying to start a small business when our little daughter came, but that money has long been spent helping to save her life. And now that our time is spent pumping breast milk and visiting her thrice a day at the NICU, it is impossible to get jobs now that we are staying so far from home. Nevertheless, we feel that our call to mission stands despite the incredible odds we face today, because the Church desperately needs workers to tend its proverbial vineyards. Guadalupe Gardens, the missionary formation center founded by my husband in 2006, is a place where foreign lay missionaries can stay to learn how to be missionaries while serving the poor as Jesus did, revitalizing the missionary identity we have as Christians.
Please help us continue supporting our precious daughter, the world’s youngest missionary, whose very life has now become intricately woven into the life of our mission. We will be forever indebted to you for helping our little Christmas miracle come true.
Organizer
Paul Rush
Organizer
Immokalee, FL
