This story has taken me almost 2 years to publish online. I would like to thank Sonia Bernal for being such a blessing and help with this story., that if it wasn't for her, this would have never happened. All I did was produced the story, translated into English and did some final editing...But, Sonia did all the work, interviews, photographs, traveling and volunteering her time without pay. Hopefully, Ronald's Story will get him and his mother some kind of help.
Thank You
Raul
Preface:
Santiago de Maria is a small city approximately 85 kilometers from the capital of
The internet is a wonderful tool to meet and find lost friends. Just like Myspace, Facebook and HI5. My uncle had told me that in HI5 there was a page with people from Santiago de Maria. I am not a fan of internet communities. But, I did want to get hold of some friends of mine that I had made during a vacationing trip by myself in the summer of 1994. One more thing that he mentioned was that there was a reporter there. I have no idea why he mentioned that, but, I guess because I’m a photojournalist, he probably figured I should get in touch with her if I ever needed anything. So, I did.
My mother had traveled to Santiago de Maria in January of 2008 to see her ill father. She stayed there about three weeks and came back to the states. A month later my mother's father passed away. It was during this trip that she went to see her old friend Martha., and Ronald. She was touched my Ronald’s situation and Martha’s willing to keep caring for her son. When she told me about this with tears on her eyes, this triggered something in my heart, that somehow I wanted to help them. But, I was here in the states and I can’t travel to
When I got in touch with Sonia, it was usually only through emails. Our email conversation always had to do about photography and news. She enjoyed my photos and my son’s photos too, but, nothing personal. She told me that she taught photography in one of the universities there and worked in a radio station as a host on a regular show. I asked her one day if she knew my uncle, she, mentioned that when she was in high school, he was one of her professors in Santiago de Maria. At, that moment I remembered Ronald. I told her that I had a human story that needed to be told. I also mentioned that there was no money involved, and if she was going to collaborate, it would be on her spare time. She agreed. Still, I didn’t tell her what it was about until a email I sent her weeks later telling the story about a young man that had been in an automotive accident and that his single mother was carrying for him with little medical care and no financial help.
I mentioned his name. She sent me back an email with a single question…is his mother’s name Martha? I answered yes. I decided that it was time to talk on the phone, so, that night we did. Sonia, was broken hearted to here this story. When folks leave their hometown to the capital, rarely they go back. She told me that her mother lives in Santiago de Maria and once in a while she goes over there and visit her. But, to my surprise, she said that she knew Martha. They had been friends during high school. And yes, she had heard about Ronald, but, she thought, because of the injuries, he was dead.
She was willing to collaborate with this story. But, it was going to take time. She would have to juggle her job, her teaching at the university and also taking care of her two daughters. Sonia is also a single mother. I was going to tell email her the questions I wanted asked and also the angles of photos that I wanted shot. I basically was going to produce this story. I sent her a shot list and a list of questions she had to asked. She was going to do my footwork for me. And she did.
This is Ronald’s story and also a story about a how a single mother in a small town of Santiago de Maria in
Ronald's Story-Part 1
Ronald has been in this stage since 2001.
A patient lies on a hospital stretcher waiting to be rescued by First Aid workers. Due to not being able to pay for his private hospital bills, he is being kept in the hospital with out service. Usually, people are taken into hospitals, not being rescued from there. But, this was a different situation. “Stop! put the stretcher on the floor” said a hospital guardwhile he aims his weapon at Ronald and his rescuers. Ronald is in a vegetative state.The rescuers settled the stretcher on the floor leading to the exit of Nuestra Señora de la Paz Hospital in the City of San Miguel, East of the Capital of El Salvador. Mario, one of the rescuers took courage and told the guard, “shoot then, if you want”. Then, Mario took the young comatose man into his arms and carried him to the waiting ambulance outside of the hospital. They headed home to Santiago de Maria. This was August 2001.
Ronald before the Accident
It was a scene from a Hollywood movie that was part of a cruel beginning that Martha Romero and her son Ronald Alexander Romero had to endure. Five days had passed from a tragic automotive accident and not being able to pay the hospital for their medical services, Ronald was left with no medical attention and “neither, were we able to take him out of the hospital” saids Martha, remembering this painful event. Ronald, was injured in a automotive accident on the way home on highway 140 of the Panamericana State Road on August 7, 2001. He was seriously injured and taken to the closest private hospital from the accident site. He was taken to Nuestra Señora de la Paz which gave him the maximum urgent care.
Martha prepares Ronald's foods.
“Cranioencephailic Traumatism Severe” (head injury) said Dr. Julio Quan Martinez the attending Doctor that saw Ronald. X-rays were taken and various exams were taken to determined how serious his injuries were for this young man. His brain got so swollen due to the accident that they had to take part of his skull to relieve the pressure, so, it would not become a contusion. Ronald had a gastrointestinal endoscopy and a tracheotomy done. He never spoke again.
Ronald's mother..Martha holds her son's head.
In celebration of the nation’s patriot saint “El Salvador del Mundo” (The Divine Savior of the the world”), during these times students are in vacation from schools across thecountry. They celebrate in fairs and take the party into the streets. Ronald was coming back home around 9 o’clock at night from a funeral viewing across town, when a group of friends that had arrived from the United States to celebrate the festivities ran into him and invited him to join them to go to another city called San Miguel (about a 30 minute drive) to party. This is a regular custom for young people that come from the United States visiting their small hometowns. Travelling to other towns with better clubs or party venues is always a choice if their hometown doesn’t have any. Usually, mixing friendship, alcohol and intoxicated drivers is always the end of the story. In other words the Salvadoran spring break. On the way back from San Miguel on the early hours of the morning after a night of partying and drinking, the driver being intoxicated and carrying people on the pick up bed with no seats at all, lost control of the vehicle tossing all the passengers out, including Ronald. The pick up landed side ways. “Most of the injuries were minor bruises and scratches., except Ronald” saids Martha. Through out the panic and confusion that rises in these situations, the young people were able to asked passerby drivers for a ride to transport Ronald to the nearest hospital. Ronald, was sober.
Martha feeds Ronald, custom food through a feeding tube.
Due, to the accident, Ronald’s plans were cut short of being one of the best basketball players in his hometown of Santiago de Maria, 22 kilometers of the Capital of San Salvador, El Salvador, Central America. His mothers’ dream of him being a college student just like his brother Billy, stopped for ever. While Ronald lays on a therapeutic bed in a vegetative state, she feeds him through a feeding tube attached to his stomach. It takes an emotional toll each time she has to remember the event that paralyzed her sons life.
Ronald's hands...
His foods are specially processed for his feeding tube. “I try to always have milk and not be out of it, this kind of milk is made specially for him” saids Martha. He has to be feed every 4 hours. There’s three types of milk fed to him, ensure, soy milk and a specialty milk. Also, fruits and juices that include orange juice and carrot juice.His bed was given to him by his friends. Ronald lays on a water mattress that helps his back from getting bed sores. Usually, he can only lay on his right side. “I give him massages with ointments, so, he won’t scald. But, most of all we are always paying attention to his stomach” saids Martha.
Martha shows the various powered milks she feeds Ronald.
