After days of uncertainty, a Tijuana woman said she was granted humanitarian parole Tuesday to say goodbye to her daughter, who has been kept on life support at a San Diego hospital while the family worked to get her mother across the border.
Avigail Silva, 17, was born with cerebral palsy. Her father, Alejandro Silva, said every time he saw her, he would tell her she had a pure heart because she never got angry with anyone.
Avigail, who is unable to speak, was in a wheelchair in her mother's Tijuana home Thursday afternoon when, her family, said she fell down the stairs.
Paramedics called to the home told Avigail's mother, Carmen Villalobos, and her father that she was fine. Although doctors at a Tijuana emergency room said the same, her father said, Avigail started vomiting uncontrollably and he rushed her to a hospital near his home in Chula Vista for a second opinion.
Get top local stories in San Diego delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC San Diego's News Headlines newsletter.
Avigail was transferred to UC San Diego Medical Center, her family said, where they learned she had suffered a brain injury she wouldn’t survive. She was placed on life support, her father said, and doctors waited for Carmen to arrive so she could say goodbye to Avigail before they took the teen off a ventilator.
Avigail was born in the U.S., her family said. Alejandro Silva said he’s a lawful, permanent resident. Carmen was undocumented and deported to Mexico 10 years ago, according to the family and has been barred from entering the U.S. ever since.
For days after Avigail’s fall, Carmen was unsure if she would be able to see her daughter to say goodbye. Carmen said she wanted to touch Avigail’s hands, her face, to tell her she loved her and that she was her life.
Local
Carmen applied for humanitarian parole, which is the process by which individuals ineligible to enter the U.S. can request to be admitted into the country temporarily based on urgent humanitarian need. Avigail’s doctor wrote Customs and Border Protection a letter requesting that Carmen be allowed to cross the border, noting “death is imminent.”
Caremen said her request was granted Tuesday afternoon. While she rushed to the hospital, Alejandro remained at Avigail’s bedside. He said every time he looked at his daughter, it broke his heart, adding that he doesn’t want anyone to go through what he has.
To say their final goodbyes together, the couple said, was their only prayer.
