Issue link: https://tmcpulse.uberflip.com/i/952446
t m c » p u l s e | m a r c h 2 0 1 8 20 O n Dec. 8, 2017, Jesus Badillo Garcia and his mother, Patty Garcia, curled up in a 10-seat van parked outside a nonde- script brick building off Interstate 2 in La Feria, Texas, a small town eight miles north of the Texas-Mexico border. It was 4 a.m. and a frigid 34 degrees. Jesus, along with other children who are missing limbs, waited patiently for the doc- tors from Houston to arrive. Though it was still pitch-dark outside, a thin blanket of snow began to coat the flat, brown Valley. It was the first time it had snowed in the area in nearly a decade. Jesus and his mother had left their home in Mexico at 7 p.m. the evening before and headed to Monterrey, Nuevo León, where they caught a bus to the Pharr-Reynosa Bridge, some four hours away. After waiting three hours to get through immigration, they walked 15 minutes across the bridge to the U.S. side of the Rio Grande, carrying only their papers and some- thing to drink. A white van, with "Shriners Hospital Children Transportation" emblazoned on the side, waited to take them and other fami- lies to the Rio Grande Valley Shriners Club of Al Amin in La Feria. On any other day, the Shriners Club houses local meetings, bingo nights and small concerts for the community. But four times a year, the club transforms into a fully operational two-day outreach clinic that serves between 160 and 240 underserved and underprivileged children with limb deficiencies, club feet, hip dysplasia, cerebral palsy and other conditions that inhibit their motor abilities. More than 30 doctors, nurses, social workers, physical and occupational therapists, radiology technicians and orthotic-prosthetic professionals from Shriners Hospitals for Children – Houston travel to La Feria to provide care at no cost to the families. "Our goal is to take a child and help them function to the best of their ability," said Lindsay P. Stephenson, M.D., a pediatric orthopedic sur- geon at Shriners – Houston. "If that means that we can help them walk further—maybe they still walk with their walker or braces, but walk twice the distance and not be as tired— that's life-changing." (continued) Bracing for the Future B y S h a n l e y P i e r c e SHRINERS – HOUSTON CLINICS AROUND THE STATE BRING MEDICAL CARE TO PATIENTS Top: Jesus Badillo Garcia and his mother, Patty Garcia, pose outside the Rio Grande Valley Shriners Club in La Feria, Texas. Bottom left: Children and families are shuttled to and from La Feria in vans operated by Shriners volunteers. Bottom middle: A Shrine clown entertains a child. Bottom right: Devin Garcia tests out his newly-fitted prosthetic leg.