With the dream of working and looking for better days and opportunities for her and her daughters, a Colombian mother left in July 2022. Mercedes Castañeda, a retired police officer, left her country and set her sights on the United States.

She traveled alone because her daughters did not have visas, one of them told Noticias Caracol. When he reached American soil, he settled in Las Vegas, Nevada. At the age of 49, he started a new life and, thinking about his family, began to work. Gonzalo Rey, her partner, accompanied her in that country.

Sadness, an opportunity for growth and reconstruction

“My Mother Fainted”

Everything went well. Mercedes spoke daily with her two daughters: Wendy, 25; and María, 18. The former has memorized the last conversation.

No one was willing to receive news that tears the family apart in pain.

On Friday afternoon, February 24, Mercedes shared how her day in Las Vegas had gone.

“She told me she was having lunch and would write to us when she got off work, but I kept waiting for that message and it never came. I still write to him in the hope that one day he will write to me again,” says Wendy.

I’m still writing to WhatsApp, I’m still waiting for her.

He later found out what had happened to his mother: “She passed out and went into convulsions and when she got to the hospital she immediately had an aneurysm.”

An aneurysm, in the words of the Mayo Clinic, is an abnormal bulge or bulge in the walls of a blood vessel.

“An aneurysm can rupture (burst), causing internal bleeding and often leading to death. Aneurysms usually don’t cause any symptoms, so you may not know you have an aneurysm, even if it’s large.

What is an aneurysm?

Mercedes resisted for a week

Knowing her mother’s health condition, Wendy sought help and wanted to get a humanitarian visa to accompany her mother in the hospital.

He moved and resorted to “the Colombian Congress” to get them to support him with the document.

The results were unfavorable and in Las Vegas his mother’s life faded.

According to El Heraldo, Gonzalo Rey posted a video on social networks from Las Vegas asking for support for his wife’s healthcare costs.

Crying, he explained: “I have been in the hospital for four days. I do not have any money left. I thank those who called and supported him (…) very kindly”.

Unfortunately, the damage from the aneurysm was irreversible and “within a week it was gone,” says Wendy. The doctors reported that her mother was brain dead.

Eternal love and organ donation

Wendy and her sister’s pain is great: their mother has passed away and they could not say goodbye to her or ask for her blessing.

The doctors at the hospital made her a street of honor to see her off. His partner sang, through tears, the song Eternal Love.

“She left and always watched over us. He wanted to help us,” says Wendy.

In homage to their mother’s aloof nature, the daughters agreed to do something they knew would fill Mercedes with satisfaction.

“Wendy and her sister made the decision donate the organs of Mercedes Castañeda to a foundation in the United States to save other lives,” reports Noticias Caracol.

In Bucaramanga, Wendy and her sister María, along with other relatives, hope to receive the ashes and say goodbye to their mother.

I feel at ease and calm because she was always very given to people.

“I know that by doing this favor we are somehow helping more people who need it and I know she would be very proud of that,” says Wendy.