Storie di vita

“Quando abbiamo capito che non era nostro figlio, ci è preso il panico”. Scambiano per errore il loro bimbo in ospedale, poi l’odissea

 

 

All’alba del terzo millennio ancora si scambiano pe errore i bimbi nelle culle dell’ospedale subito dopo la nascita. Ma è mai possibile commettere errori su una ‘cosa’ così importante, che può stravolgere per sempre il destino di un essere umano? L’importante però è almeno accorgersi della svista e riparare ai danni.

(Continua a leggere dopo le foto)

scambio1Una coppia statunitense, Richard Cushworth e sua moglie Mercy originari di Dallas, si sono resi immediatamente conto che quello non era loro figlio e che nell’ospedale c’era stato uno scambio.

Ms Casanellas, pictured with the couple's biological son after the birth,  / A British father and his wife have made a desperate appeal to find their  son after their new-born baby was allegedly swapped with another child  in an El Salvador hospital. The couple now fear their light-skinned baby was snatched deliberately  by staff at the exclusive Ginecologico private hospital in the country's  capital San Salvador to sell to child traffickers. A British father and his wife have made a desperate appeal to find their  son after their new-born baby was allegedly swapped with another child  in an El Salvador hospital, it was reported today (mon). Richard Cushworth and his Salvadoran wife Mercedes Casanellas travelled  to the country in May to have their baby in his mother's homeland. But after returning to their home, in the United States, they eventually  decided to have a DNA test after noticing that the baby didn't look like  either of the parents - and discovered to their horror that the child  wasn't theirs. The couple now fear their light-skinned baby was snatched deliberately  by staff at the exclusive Ginecologico private hospital in the country's  capital San Salvador to sell to child traffickers. The family have reportedly already investigated all the other babies  born at the hospital on the same day and found that all are with their  correct parents - reinforcing their belief that their own son was stolen. In an emotional interview with a local TV station, a teary Ms Casanellas  said: "We haven't been able to sleep thinking about where he is, and who  has him. "We just want them to give us our son back." Mr Cushworth, who met Ms Casanellas when he worked as a missionary in El  Salvador, added: "It's a horrible situation. I have a child and I don't  know where he is. "Someone took my child and I have no idea where he is, who is taking  care of him, what has happened to him. Is he in the country? It's awful. "I sometimes try not to think about this because it is so frightening." Ms Casanella's obstretrician-gyneocologist, Dr Alejandra Guidos, who the  couple accuse of masterminding the plot, was arrested on Thursday,  according to their family's lawyer Francisco Meneses. Ms Casanellas said that, from the fifth month of her pregnancy, she  remembered how Dr Guidos would repeatedly tell her that her child would  be dark-skinned, even though the father is white. She said: "I always thought that was strange. How would he know that  from the ultra-sound scans, and why would he keep saying it?" Remembering her baby's birth, she said: "I was very stressed at first  because the baby took a while to start breathing, but then I held him  and remember thinking that he looked like my husband. "He was very white and had similar features. I remember seeing his  genitals and thinking that they were white and pinkish. "But then the anesthetist came and told me that I was very nervous and  that they were going to give me something to put me to sleep. After that  I don't remember anything, until I woke up the next morning. "Around 8am, they started to bring the babies to their mothers, and I  waited for mine. But when I took him I saw that he was very different to  the one I had held in the delivery room. When I changed his clothes I  noticed that his genitals were very dark and not rosy like how I'd  remembered. "I said to the nurse, 'look, his genitals are very dark', and she told  me, 'no, that's normal, that's normal'". Ms Casanellas said photos she took of her baby son soon after the birth  prove that the baby was white-skinned. Despite the doubts, the couple took the baby back home to Dallas,,  Texas, but over the coming months family and friends also noticed the  child's darker colour and lack of resemblance with his parents. Ms Casanellas said: "I would take photos of him and put them next to my  husband, trying to find something of us in him. I kept trying to  convince myself that he was really ours, that over time we would begin  to see a resemblance. "But my motherly instincts kept telling me that he wasn't mine." The baby was three months old when the couple finally found to courage  to take a DNA test, which showed he has a 0.00 per cent probability of  being their son. Desperate to find the baby she gave birth to, the couple rushed back to  El Salvador. At first San Salvador's Ginecologio hospital, considered the best  private hospital in the country, denied that the baby could have been  swapped, saying it was "impossible" due to their "high standards" of  control. But after Dr Guidos's arrest, following the family's high-profile TV  interview, the hospital ordered an internal investigation and promised  that the situation will be "rectified". The country's Attorney General has now ordered a criminal investigation  into the baby's disappearance amid claims a trafficking gang, led by Dr  Guido, has been operating inside the hospital. Ms Casanellas said: "I just want him to give me my baby back. I want to  know that my child hasn't been trafficked or any other crime committed  against him. I need my baby, I'm just asking for my baby." The couple added that, if the true parents of the baby they were given  are not found, they will raise him as their own. She said: "If they can't find his mother, he already has parents, us. We  are taking care of him and, even though we know he isn't our biological  son, we still love him."

Il bimbo dei coniugi Cushworth però era nato a El Salvador e, per il suo rientro negli Stati Uniti, ci sono voluti molti documenti e moltissime pratiche burocratiche. Sono passati infatti ben 9 mesi prima che entrambi i bambini tornassero ai rispettivi genitori.

Richard Cushworth and Mercedes Casanellas, has had a DNA test and found that their child, pictured, is not related to either of them  (c) MAtt Roper

C’è voluto anche il test del DNA che, tra l’altro, ha dimostrato che c’era lo 0% di possibilità che Mercy fosse la mamma del bimbo prelevato per sbaglio in ospedale.

salvador child.jpg

“Appena ci siamo resi conto che il nostro unico figlio non era quello che avevamo, sono stato preso dal panico – ha ammesso Richard -. Sapevamo che ci sarebbe voluto del tempo prima di riabbracciare nostro figlio, ma 9 mesi sono davvero tanti”.