by Katie Vasquez
In 1996, Laura Vasquez learned she was pregnant.
It was a moment of joy for her and her husband, Andrew Rios.
“To me, carrying life was God’s gift. I saw it as God’s gift,” Laura, a parishioner at St. Helen’s Church in Howard Beach, Queens, tells Currents News about that day. “I just broke down in tears,” adds Andrew while reflecting on the memories.
Laura says she had a difficult pregnancy filled with multiple hospital stays. At one point, she and her husband had a chilling discussion with doctors.
“I remember hearing the word ‘terminate,’ and I said, ‘Excuse me. What do you mean by ‘terminate,'” she explains.
“It took all of about 30 seconds to decide. You know, that’s not an option for us,” says Andrew.
The parishioners at St. Helen’s leaned on their faith, and viewed their daughter Isabella as a miracle child when she was born.
Days later, doctors noticed some issues.
“‘Her eyes are rolling up. We want to do a CAT scan of her brain and so on,'” doctors told Andrew at the time.
It took two years of tests to get Isabella’s diagnosis, a rare genetic disorder called Cornelia-DeLange syndrome.
“Failure to thrive is one of the conditions, delayed in walking, delayed and talking,” says Laura, “sshe checked the boxes for all those milestones.”
Isabella is now 28 years old and has defied the odds.
She loves to dance and do puzzles, just like anyone her age.
“Isabella has a love for life. She loves to go out. She loves to shop,” Andrew says of his daughter.
And although she has limitations, her parents say they always knew God wouldn’t give them more than they could handle.
“The phone rings and she video calls and says ‘Hi, daddy,’the best part of my day,” Andrew tells Currents News.
“I always say, ‘God, I know what you wanted,. You gave me this child because you know my resilience and you know that, no matter what, I am going to do everything that I can just to make her live a sound, a sound life,” says Laura,
The Catholic couple is happy that they chose life, because they now have the light of their lives.