At just 9 years old, as he was getting ready for school, Carlos Manuel Caballero experienced his first seizure. That moment marked the beginning of a lifelong battle: epilepsy.
Carlitos, as he is affectionately called, was born healthy at the Hospital de Occidente. Everything seemed normal until the seizures began. His mother, Idalia—a mother of 12 children—did not have the resources to provide him with medical care, but at CAMO she found hope and a refuge that has never abandoned them.
CAMO supported him from primary consultations to transfers to San Pedro Sula, where he underwent specialized testing. It was there that doctors discovered a brain tumor which, thanks to CAMO’s neurosurgery program and the Hospital de Occidente, was successfully removed. That surgery restored his hope and gave him the chance to move forward.
Almost ten years have passed since that difficult moment in his life. Carlitos remains a patient in the neurology program—the only one in western Honduras that serves low-income families.
For many years he received his medication free of charge through CAMO, and today he obtains it at the Hospital de Occidente. Although epilepsy is still a challenge, Carlitos refuses to give up.
His perseverance is truly inspiring
Every day he travels 27 kilometers from his community of El Níspero in Cucuyagua to Santa Rosa de Copán. With determination and enthusiasm, he sells sliced pineapple in bags to help support his family. “I used to sell five bags, now I sell between 100 and 120,” he proudly shared. His mother also works as a street vendor, and together they face life with dignity and courage.
Carlitos still keeps the stuffed animals he received from CAMO years ago—symbols of the love and support that CAMO and its collaborators have brought into his life.
Today, he dreams of one day working at CAMO, to offer others the same help that sustained him through much of his life.
From the very first visit to the most recent one: Carlos Caballero with his mother Idalia, bound by the years and the memories of every visit to CAMO.
