SAN ANTONIO — The Pantoja family in San Antonio packed their U-Haul and drove 22 hours straight across the country to drop off medical supplies to families in need.
Itza Pantoja says the mission behind the miles is for her son, Dylan. He was born with cerebral palsy and was a quadriplegic. Pantoja said he faced several health challenges including vision blindness, scoliosis and hydrocephalus. When he was born, doctors gave him 6 months to live. But Dylan made it to his 16th birthday before he passed away from organ failure.
“We learned to always be grateful to always having him around,” said Itza. “As a parent, we always had the hope that he would live longer.”
The family had his medical equipment and supplies remaining after his death. During the height of the pandemic, Itza said local groups weren’t able to accept her donations. She had an attorney they knew, got her in touch with the Clifford Law Offices in Chicago. The law firm then got the family in touch with ASI, a nonprofit organization that serves person with disabilities and provides home care and training services. Itza said her and her husband packed a U-Haul with all the supplies and drove to Chicago.
“You know the phrase that says you gotta walk a mile in somebody's shoes to understand what they've been through. Well, I wanted to help people that have been or starting to walk a mile in my shoes,” said Itza.
The equipment was donated to multiple families in the Chicago area. There were also doses of luck and kismet, wheelchairs, special beds, catheters, feeding pumps, humidifiers, nebulizers, tracheotomy tubes, diapers, dressings and guaze that were donated. Itza recalled one boy’s reaction when he received the generous gift.
“He thought he was only receiving a couple of things and when we opened the U-haul truck, he was like: this is a lot of things! We don’t have the space for this. I looked at him and said, I drove from Texas. You’re going to make space,” said Itza with a laugh. “We should always live with hope and help those in need.”