Recovery complete
The following was submitted by News and Public Affairs Information Officer, Laurie Holloway.
Escarleth Betancourt-Gutierrez was surrounded by support during her time in the Nashville area. Fellow teens from Harpeth Hills Church of Christ embraced the Honduran girl, welcoming her to Tennessee and becoming friends.
Escarleth even created a page on the Facebook social networking web site, titled “Oremos por Escarleth,” or “Pray for Escarleth.” The page let her friends and family in Honduras keep up with her progress during her surgery. And now that Escarleth and her mother have returned home to Honduras, her new Tennessee friends can do the same. The site includes many photos of Escarleth and her new friends, hugging and smiling in traditional teen snapshots.
Her recovery went so well that Escarleth even walked all over the Nashville Zoo just before her final checkup on May 6.
That day, Escarleth and her mother met with Greg Mencio, M.D., for the last time. The teen bounced around the orthopedic clinic area of Children’s Hospital, full of energy and giggles and talking nonstop. Along with members of the church, she presented Mencio with framed pictures and news articles about the surgery, as well as other gifts and letters of thanks.
“Thank you, thank you so much,” a tearful Rosario Betancourt-Gutierrez, Escarleth’s mother, said through an interpreter as she embraced Mencio.
A new X-ray shows the startling number of metal implants now straightening Escarleth’s spine, which includes two rods and 20 screws. After an exam, a few stitches were removed, and Mencio watched Escarleth walk down a hallway before pronouncing that her recovery was continuing to go well. Another round of hugs later, they headed out of the orthopedic clinic.
Before Escarleth and her mother left the hospital, they squeezed in a few minutes of shopping at a gift sale set up in the lobby.
While incredibly thankful that her daughter’s life has been forever changed here at Children’s Hospital, Rosario acknowledged being ready to get back home. They accomplished that goal on May 9, accompanied by Samuel, a Honduran friend who’s attending David Lipscomb University.
