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Damiano Ayala
Damiano Ayala was born in Ecuador on the 26th of December 1993, the day after Christmas. For most of us, Christmas is a time for rejoicing, but for Damiano and his mother the odds sounded like anything but happy: months before delivery, the medical doctors had diagnosed Damiano with myelomeningocele, and he would subsequently be born with a deformed body.
Faced with the option of having an abortion, his mother, Doris, chose to give life to her baby, based on her trust in God. Within 8 hours after birth, Damiano had to undergo surgery to close a hole in his backbone and to prevent hydrocephalus, an abnormal growth of his head. Two months later, Damiano's father left home because he could not handle the situation.
Damiano with his mother, Doris, and a relative.
Doris, helped by her parents, travelled to Europe, thousands of miles away from her son, so she could earn enough money to afford all the expensive medications he needed. Damiano underwent other surgeries after 6 months, 9 months, 2 years, 5 years and 9 years through which the Ecuadorian surgeons attempted to correct the shape of his feet, heels and leg tendons, without much results. Before his last surgery, Damiano could walk with crutches, but he now has to be pushed in a wheelchair because his legs are too weak.
Damiano with his grandparents and two friends from Doris' church in
Italy.
Damiano is a courageous kid, but since birth, he suffers from incontinence, and his mother has been advised by an orthopeadic doctor to have him operated on in Italy as soon as possible in order to prevent his legs from remaining weak for the rest of his life.