The people who stood by us, without even knowing us
There are moments when the word humanity ceases to be a concept
and becomes an action.
And in this difficult journey, it is impossible for me to forget some people who stood by us as like they had known us for years.
As if they were already there, before we needed them.
When it all started, that very first moment I describe at the beginning of this journey,"When the miracle hurts"and we heard our baby's diagnosis, a left congenital diaphragmatic hernia,
my first instinct was to search.
To run
To look for information.
To cling to anything hopeful.
Searching into the void
The truth is that I struggled a lot. The condition was rare, and at the time there was almost no similar experience written about in our country.
Any story I could lean on.
And so, my search led me to social media.
There, in a small, closed group, was something I did not expect to find:
People.
People who were going through or had gone through something similar.
And that alone was a lifesaver.
During that period, that group was my only support.
The only people to whom I didn't have to explain anything.
The stories that hurt and those that gave strength
Reading their experiences, I often felt pain.
There were heavy stories.
Stories that would break you.
But there were also the others.
The stories that, even though the journey was difficult, managed to reach the light.
I read those over and over again.
From them, I drew the strength to keep going.
And somehow, I kept going.
The people you never forget
But I want to focus on something very specific.
On that couple.
Who, even though they had experienced something similar shortly before us,
stood by us in a way I will never forget.
From the very first moment, their interest was genuine.
Not formal.
Not superficial.
And I will never forget how, on the day of the first intrauterine surgery, just before I entered the operating room, they were there.
Without me asking them to be.
To encourage me.
To give me a hug.
To wish me well.
It was all so real.
And because of that, I will never forget them.
The message that became hope
I also haven't forgotten that message from a mother.
A woman whose child was diagnosed with the same condition at the end of her pregnancy, at a point where you feel there is nothing left you can do.
The doctors had given her very little chance.
And yet, her child made it.
Tell me…
Is there a more hopeful message than that?
At that moment, I felt that hope could be born even in the darkness.
Something more than understanding
They say that only someone going through something similar can understand you.
And maybe that is true.
But these people didn't just understand us.
It was something more.
I haven't forgotten the messages.
The support.
The care.
Mothers I never met in person,
but whom I felt deeply connected to.
And somehow I realized that humanity does not only exist in doctors and scientists, as was evident in the journey I described in"The miracle of the people behind the diagnoses"
, but also in the people around us.
It exists everywhere.
In everyday people.
In people who choose to stand by your side,
even if they have never met you.
And that, in itself, is a small miracle.