Deported in Coma, Saved Back in U.S.

Antonio Torres, a legal immigrant was badly hurt in a car crash last June. Uninsured and suffering life threatening injuries, the hospital in Arizona quietly deported him across the boarder, despite outraged protests from his parents. Not ready to give up Mr. and Mrs. Torres contacted a hospital in California that was willing to take him and sent a donated ambulance to bring Antonio back to the U.S. While his condition was severely worsened by the long transport, after several months in the California hospital Antonio has made a profound recovery. He is now able to walk and talk with his cane swinging in the air to emphasize his points. He wants to work in the Alfalfa fields again and live close to home. Mr. Torres recalls the horrible hospital experience when the social worker told him and his wife that just after two days of study the doctors had concluded that his son had sever brain damage and that he would either never wake up or be confided to a nursing home; never being able to speak or walk again. The social worker told them it was best to pull the plug on their son, when they said no she was angry. A hispanic leader in Phoenix, Mr. Espinoza who has been working with another immigrant paitent battling another hospital in the Phoenix area. He came with Mr. and Mrs. Torres to talk wiht the hospital's social worker. The social worker told them it was best to pull the plug on their son, when they said no she was angry. Mr. Espinoza recalls the meeting when he offered to raise money to keep Antonio a room and a ventilator Mr. Espinoza said the social worker repiled; "Gee, that would be like taking money and throwing it down a black hole because this kid is going to die! I've got Mom and Dad crying, and she says that other patients would be better suited for that kind of investment." Now with the whole family back together in Arizona Mr. Torres said,"Imagine if I had said, 'O.K. disconnect him." However stories like Antonio's are happening all over the southern states. Uninsured Immigrants find themselves at the mercy of these hospitals. Mr. Green, president of the city-owned hospital in California where Antonio was treated said, "our mission here is to provide health care access to our community and anyone who comes to our E.R. is considered part of our community. This was a kid who came to this country legally, worked here legally and had an accident. For God's sake, don't we take care of our folk? To me, this case shows one of the disastrously broken pieces of our health care system."