McALLEN, Texas (Border Report) — Inside the Humanitarian Respite Center on Monday, the family of a little girl who lost her legs on a train coming to the South Texas border were preparing to leave the border.
Sister Norma Pimentel, executive director of Catholic Charities Rio Grande Valley, says they have collected over $1,750 in donations — more than enough to fly the girl and her two young brothers and mother and father to Tennessee on Monday afternoon where they were to meet up with family.
“The Valley has always shown that they have a big heart. They care. And I’m so pleased that everybody is coming together to help this family,” Pimentel told Border Report on Monday from the Humanitarian Respite Center where the girl and her family stayed for the past week.
On Thursday, Pimentel had posted on Facebook asking for donations to help the family.
The response came swift and hundreds of people pledged support.
Pimentel says she isn’t certain exactly how much was collected but it was more than enough for the airfare from McAllen, and the rest would be given to them to help them as they begin a new life in the United States as asylum seekers.
The family was legally released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials to the Humanitarian Respite Center, which takes in migrants and offers temporary shelter, food, clothing and travel advice.
But in extreme cases, the facility also helps to provide travel, and even sometimes rallies the community, like it did to help this family from Colombia.
The family’s name is being withheld to protect their privacy and Pimentel would only say that the girl is 10 years or younger.
Both of her legs are severed below the knees after she was run over by the notorious La Bestia train — so named The Beast in Mexico because of so many migrants who have been hurt trying to ride it.
The family had just arrived at a train station in the Queretaro, Mexico, on their northern trek to the Southwest border, and were running to catch the train. A friend put the girl on the train, “but the moment that he placed her in the train, the train just pulled and she fell,” Pimentel said.
The mother chased after the train and tried to get help.
“She ran after the train desperately, and finally was able to get to another point where somebody listened to her that her child was still on the train, and she was carrying the foot of the child in her hand, because she saw it in the tracks and was able to convince somebody to stop the train.”
They were taken to a local hospital and finally made it to the border after she was able to travel.
Pimentel says they are among about 150 to 250 asylum seekers per day currently coming to the Humanitarian Respite Center for help.
Most head to northern interior cities, like this family.
She says when they arrive in Tennessee they will need extensive medical care and they are trying to get prosthetics for the little girl.
But she says throughout their stay, the girl was smiling and upbeat and the family was resolved in their faith of God that everything would be OK.
“She’s full of life. She’s a beautiful child, and it’s amazing to see her how she interacts and moves around without her legs,” Pimentel said.
She says the mother is emotional when she talks about the accident. But her faith is strong.
“They completely feel that God has really helped them to be to this point, and she’s completely affected by what happened. When she shares her story, it’s very difficult, she cries, you know, but, she knows God is with them now and helping them through all of this. And so it’s good to show that people care,” she said.
Donations for the girl can be made to Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley at this link.
Sandra Sanchez can be reached at SSanchez@BorderReport.com.
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