Walter’s Health is Valeria’s Happiness

As Walter took his first tiny breaths, Valeria broke down in heavy, heaving sobs.

He had a cleft. It hadn’t shown up on ultrasounds. She felt totally unprepared. When the doctors tried to comfort her, she turned and replied that her tears were joyful.

“In my family, we all wanted a boy.”

Walter’s first days at home were extremely difficult. His cleft made him struggle to swallow milk, which forced Valeria to care for him around the clock while her husband, daughters, and older son helped around the house. “The only thing I thought about was that he needed cleft surgery,” she said.

Thankfully, the family was soon put in touch with Centro Integral de Salud Banda, their nearest Smile Train partner. On the day of his appointment, Valeria moved swiftly to undertake the long journey. She and her husband awoke at 4:00 a.m. and set out with Walter, who was bundled up tightly to protect against the winter cold. They walked 40 minutes to the highway, where they caught a bus to the town of Loreto. There, they transferred to a different bus headed to Santiago, where finally they caught a third bus to the hospital. By the time they arrived, it was 8:30 a.m.

It proved to be the first of many life-changing journeys to Hospital Banda for Valeria and Walter. The staff laid out an entire care plan for him — starting with cleft lip surgery, which he received at five months old. After his procedure, Valeria could barely contain her excitement as she snapped pictures of her baby boy to share with her other children back home.

Walter returned for his cleft palate surgery six months later. Thanks to Smile Train donors, all of Walter’s cleft care, not just the surgeries, was completely free for the family.

“I have nothing but words of gratitude for the cleft specialists and donors who helped my son,” Valeria shared. “We’ve had support for surgeries, dentistry, speech therapy, and psychology. The psychologist also helped me a lot when Walter received his first surgery, since I was very afraid of him going into the operating room.”

Walter, now four, is still the beloved baby brother of the family. He continues to receive specialized speech therapy and dental care. Valeria hopes he will study hard and have a good career one day.

“My children are my life. What makes me happy is that they are healthy and happy themselves,” Valeria said.

“To parents who have a child with a cleft, be strong, be present, and have patience. Patience was what helped me the most.”