The parents of a 5-year-old woman anxiously await the home of her 10-month-old daughter, the maximum of whom were because of the coronavirus pandemic.
John and Vanesa Galván said it had been almost a year since they last saw their daughter Samantha in person, but that they were just a few days away from hugging again. woman in her arms, reported KFOR, NBC associate.
“It’s a nightmare, ” said John at the point of sale. “If you were an athlete or something and had to go somewhere, the passing government would do its best. I feel like a 5-year-old U. S. citizen has been forgotten. . “
On New Year’s Eve, the Galvans left Samantha at their grandparents’ home in Colombia, where they hoped she could be more informed about her family’s culture earlier despite everything that brought her home this summer, according to KFOR.
They did not know that COVID-19 would sweep the world three months later, which led many countries to enforce restrictions and close their borders.
Initially, the Oklahoma couple assumed that Colombia’s restrictions would not be in effect until a few months after John said his plan for April “was postponed due to COVID. “
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But when their next attempts continued to close, the Galvans stayed as they desperately sought tactics to take their daughter home.
“There’s no date,” the father reminded NBC subsidiary KXAS-TV, “That’s when we started to panic when we thought it was going to be longer and longer. “
“Speak a little English!” John added KFOR.
Eventually, the couple learned that their only option to bring Samantha back to the United States was a humanitarian flight; however, authorities said the 5-year-old woman deserved to be alone, and her parents were far from thrilled with the idea.
“For any of us, simply . . . you know, she can slightly open a bathroom door, a plane door to go alone to the bathroom, let alone fly alone, sit next to strangers, go through customs with someone who might or might not be paying attention to it,” John explained to KXAS.
Fearing what Samantha might face on her own journey, the Galvans made the decision to wait until they simply surrendered. Meanwhile, they said they had lost milestones with their daughter.
“We missed the Fourth of July together, their birthday, Father’s Day, everything, and it’s hard,” John told KXAS.
“His little tooth is almost falling off, so he got excited and told us,” Vanesa told KFOR.
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John noted that he also missed the precious moments he shared with Samantha.
“Before he left, he wouldn’t sleep in bed and come knocking on our door and put a blanket next to our bed, and he was just looking to sleep near us,” John told KFOR. “It’s heartbreaking for me not to have him there. “
But all this pain will be left behind this weekend, when John nevertheless travels to Colombia to pick up Samantha after 10 long months.
The extremely cheerful father told KFOR that Samantha would get only a ton of affection from her parents, but also special gifts at home, adding a new concert hall and a parade with her neighbors.
“Just to put it back in our arms, ” said John on the way out.
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