
~Nanay~
This is the saddest post I have ever had to write.
I arrived to Peru to spend a few days with my mom, after I was told by my brothers that the cancer has spread on her face and eyes, leaving her blind in one eye and with lack of her speech.
I don’t know how long I will have my mom, but I wanted to be here for her on Mother’s Day, as this was her longtime dream.
Today, my brother and I went to the public market to buy fruit for my mom. There were dozens of poor homeless dogs begging people for their leftovers...my heart broke. I instantly regretted being there because the pain I felt was so much to bear.
I told my brother I didn’t want to be there anymore...and as we turned a dark corner of the market...I saw him. š
I called him and he had a hard time walking...so thin...flea infested...rotting, smelling so repulsive because of that thing.
By the time I turned away a few seconds to buy him food, he was gone.
I came back to the city where my family was waiting for me. My mom saw me brokenhearted and disheartened. I asked her to forgive me for leaving her, but I needed to go back to look for the little boy to help him.
My brother and I bought a crate and headed back to the market and we split up trying to find him...he was nowhere. I told my brother I was not leaving empty handed. Then children told us they saw him going in the tunnel and we followed them. Indeed...even if I was blind, I could recognize immediately the putrid smell in the air. He was all the way in the back, in the dark, laying on a pool of pestilent pus. He didn’t want the food...the pain he was in was so great that any type of food was not important anymore...the pain...the pain!
I dragged the crate close to him and helped him get inside. He didn’t try to fight me. His frail little body weighed like an empty leaf...my arms wrapped around the tumor, leaving a trail of blood and pus all over me.
My brother looked at me like I was crazy...
We carried him in the crate out of the tunnel and drove straight to the clinic.
During the long ride, I called so many people...offered them money to care for him till he got better...if he ever was going to get better. Everyone said no...even with the money, they all said no...even my own family said no... They were all afraid for their healthy dogs as they didn’t understand the disease.
I hated everyone...
I looked at the vet and told him in tears to put him to sleep. I let the little boy lick my face. I just didn’t care anymore that he cleaned his gross tumor and was leaving his saliva all over my face. I didn’t care anymore. I was hurting inside...if I left him on the streets he would have suffered immensely before dying in agony. I felt I had no choice.
The vet left me alone in the room with the little boy. I asked him to forgive me, even though I couldn’t forgive myself. It was the way he looked at me...
I helped thousands of dogs in the Bahamas and I couldn’t help one of my own...
I cried...this was not the kind of trip I paid for.
So I closed my eyes, not wanting to face him...and I felt a hug. The little boy had his paw on my shoulder, looking at me in silence...then I understood everything. I called the vet that was getting everything ready to put him to sleep and I said...I want to help him live. I turned to the little boy and I said...I will do everything in my power to help you. I understood why I have traveled oceans to be there today...he needed to be found and to be helped.
The vet said he could stay at his clinic for 2-3 months during his treatment and care, so I didn’t have to worry that he would end up on the streets. The aggressive venereal has spread all over his entire rectum and penis.
I signed the paperwork and left, feeling at peace for once.
It wont be cheap...but he is worth it. They all are.
I told my mom, I am human...I am her daughter...but above all, I am a rescuer.
Do you think, Nanay is worth helping? Or because he is all the way in the jungle in Peru, he doesn’t deserve your help? Does geography really matter?
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