Parents of 10-year-old sick girl flee a crumbling Venezuela for Chile

Desperate parents flee basket-case Venezuela and drive their three children and pet dog 5,000 miles in their 20-year-old truck to Chile in 28-day road trip to a better life – and the pictures are incredible

Sarah Lobo, 11, was diagnosed with appendicitis on January 11 and was successfully operated two days later. She spent about four days in hospital
Her father Armando, and mother, Selene, saw the week-long ordeal in which they battled the crippled Venezuelan medical system as a reason to uproot the family and move them to Chile
They settled on Chile because Selene’s grandfather was born there before moving to Venezuela

A Venezuelan family will forever remember the life-altering decision it made at the beginning of 2018.

Looking back, they had little choice. 11-year-old Sara, the daughter of Armando and Selene Lobo had appendicitis and the shortage of Venezuelan medical supplies, doctors and operating rooms meant she very nearly could have died. Their once-beautiful homeland had been brought to its knees by a failed socialist regime under Maduro and it was no place to raise their children.

So they packed up their 20-year-old Range Rover Discovery with their most important belongings, namely their three children and their pet dog and set off on a 5,000 mile journey to Chile.

They had no GPS and had to navigate the perilous Brazilian Amazon and the Peruvian Andes Mountains en route to a brighter future. It turned out to be a 28-day adventure, most of which they caught on camera.

In a phone interview with the Daily Mail, Armando said the family abandoned their hometown of Isla de Margarita on January 28 with their other two children, Isaias, 10, and Isabelle, four, two weeks after the child fortunately underwent surgery despite the shortage of medical goods and doctors that for years have existed in Venezuela.

‘It’s difficult. It’s not easy to make the decision especially when you have some many friends and family members,’ said Armando, who works as a pastor. ‘Distancing yourself from the things you have grown accustomed to living with. But we’ve learned to keep our luggage bags lightly packed. And that means that at any moment we can move freely from one place to the next.’

‘We left behind out house in Venezuela. We left our family in Venezuela. But as a country we’re living a process in which hope that it will change sooner rather than later,’ he added.

A healthy and happy Sara (left) with the family pet dog and her brother Isaias (right). Sara found the 10-day travel through the Andes Mountain a bit difficult- the high altitude that they weren’t accustomed to made them a bit sick for a few days.

The Lobo family had no idea what 2018 had planned for them when Sara (right), 11, got sick and had to underwent a surgery to remove her appendix. Selen (second left) and Armando (second right) decided they had seen too much and did not want to see their other, Isaias, 10, and Isabella (four) experience the hardships that Venezuela was already subjecting them to. On January 28, 10 days after Sara was operated, the family put their truck on a ferry and the drove off towards a new life in Chile.

This 1998 truck changed the future of the family by making it from Venezuela to Chile. They paused their voyage by taking in the beauty of the Atacama Desert in Chile.

Sara (right) with her brother Isaias (left) and little sister Isabella (center) during a minor pit stop right in the middle of the Amazon in Brazil as the family headed to Chile.

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The night January 11, the young girl was taken to the military hospital in Isla de Margarita and doctors sent her home and advised her parents to return the next morning if the pain persisted.

And so they did, and upon a routine medical exam, her condition was confirmed. However, because of a lack of doctors and proper medical supplies, the family was recommended visiting Luis Ortega Hospital, which only had two pediatrician surgeons on its staff.

Lobo recalled showing up a 6.00 AM on January 12 and waiting countless hours for the surgeon, who stalled her arrival every time she was contacted. She even bothered to show up and even refused to assist the family’s pediatrician in prescribing the proper medicine that could be temporarily administered as the child’s skin constantly changed colors and was getting.

Thanks to the family doctor and her cardiologist husband, another pediatrician surgeon offered his assistance.

The family visited two clinics in search of a radiologist to perform an MRI,and ended up returning to the first one once the radiologist finally showed up to administer the required exam prior to the surgery at the Luis Ortega Hospital.

Armando (right) and his three children Sara (left), Isabella (bottom center) and Isaias (top center) while taking a minor break on their way to Chile.

Sarah Lobo, 11, experienced how bad the Venezuela health system that gotten, and spent three days trying to get her appendix removed on January. Her parents saw the tough ordeal as a turning point and decided to uproot their family to another country. Her siblings Isaias (right), 10, and Isabella (center), four, are seen playing in the back as the family took a break in action on their way to Chile.

The smiling Lobos ended their 28-day trip that took them through almost 5,000 miles by settling down in Santiago de Chile on February 26.

After everything turned out OK in the operation, the hospital provided Armando with the child’s appendix because it didn’t have any formaldehyde in order to preserve it for a necessary biopsy that needed to be done. Armando remembered going from one funeral home to another in search of the chemical that used to preserve bodies from decomposing.

The harrowing events over the course of two days made both parents reconsider the family’s immediate future in Venezuela, choosing Chile as their future home of choice because of Selene’s Chilean ancestry.

After failing to get a desire bid for their used 1998 Land Rover Discovery, the Lobos locked up their home, packed as much stuff as they could into the truck.

They set out on January 28 with the doctor’s blessings that Sara was on her way to a full recovery from her tough ordeals, while leaving behind his father and two sisters.

The nearly 5,000-mile trip brought some difficult experience, the sight of thousands of fellow countrymen feeling the crippling South American nation, seeing how they slept in tent cities and seeking just a helping hand from the neighboring countries the Lobos family drove through before reaching their final destination of Santiago de Chile.

On January 28, the Lobo family bid farewell to their family members and friends and set forth on a near 5,000 miles journey that would change their lives for the better. Armando Lobo said it was painful seeing his fellow Venezuelans cross into Brazil on foot, with no money or food. They drove over the tough terrain of the Brazilian Amazon and the elevation of the Andes Mountains was conquered although his three children got sick and his 20-year-old truck struggled for several moments.

The Lobos were looking to sell as much of their personal belongings as possible, even this 1998 Land Rover Discovery (pictured). No bidders were found and it ended up becoming what willed them through a tough 28-day journey from Venezuela all the way to Chile. An extra 5,000 miles later, it finds itself roaming the streets of Santiago de Chile after it got covered in mud during its travails through the Brazilian Amazon.

The Lobos spent a little over a week after successfully making it across Brazil. The family made a lifelong album of memories. Selene (left), Sara (second from left), Isaias (center), Isabella (second right) and Armando (right) with an unidentified woman and man in the background while travelling through Brazil.

The tight knit quintet place their vehicle in a ferry and crossed over to Puerto La Cruz that day and drove over to Puerto Ordaz, where they spent a night with relatives that were awaiting to take them in. They then drove towards Gran Sabana and spent one night there and made it to the border town of Santa Elena, as they eventually crossed into Brazil and into the city of Pacaraima after the their passports were stamped by customs.

Lobo said three men each handled the passport process, which approximately cost US$26 per stamp for each member of the family.

The family spent over a week driving through Brazil and crossing through the Amazon over the tough dirt road with not one person in sight.

A drive up the Andes Mountains perhaps was the worst point of the trip.

The high altitude gave the old, reliable truck some problems. Armando just couldn’t get it past second gear. The cold temperatures even affected the three brothers and sisters as they old battled some type of cold.

But as soon as the Lobos started to descend from the mountains, the worn down car was back in action and the kids were acting like the kids normally do.

Finally, on February 26 the journey would meet its final destination, giving the beat up truck a place where its wheels could get a well deserved rest.

‘The best part of the trip was the experience. The experience means we did something that’s done once in a lifetime, and I think there are few times in our lives we can say that,’ Lobo said. ‘There are things you can only do once in life and this trip served as a long learning point for us because we spent a month on the road. But we have a lot of great memories.

WSTale.com

Parents of 10-year-old sick girl flee a crumbling Venezuela for Chile

Desperate parents flee basket-case Venezuela and drive their three children and pet dog 5,000 miles in their 20-year-old truck to Chile in 28-day road trip to a better life – and the pictures are incredible

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