This is a picture of Genesis Alvarez, who will be 20 this year. Genesis came to Omaha as a baby for a heart procedure. On arrival in Omaha, Mom said she had a cold as it was difficult for her to breathe. We took her to Children's late the night of arrival. They tried to put a tube down her trachea to help her breathe but didn't have a small enough tube so an emergency tracheotomy was performed on her. Long story short, no one in Belize knew how to take care of a tracheotomy patient, so Children's trained mom over a several-month stay how to take care of it. Nurse Jenny Strawn Van Winkle then trained Dad, a nurse, and a Red Cross worker in Belize on our next trip to Belize. She had the tracheotomy for several years until she was big/old enough for surgery to enlarge the trachea. Dr. Deb Goble at Children's eventually operated on her to enlarge her trachea to allow her to be the beautiful young lady you see in this picture. Oh, by the way, we also corrected her heart defect. No question, she would not be alive today if she hadn't come to Omaha.Operation Hippocrates is an annual project supported by our Service Fund. Thank you to Leroy Swedlund for leading Operation Hippocrates.
