RACINE, Wis. — A Racine family is in desperate need of bringing their 9-year-old relative home.
Fernando Duran was vacationing in Mexico when he was severely injured in a four-wheeler accident. Now, this boy is fighting for his life in Mexico while his family in Wisconsin fights to get him home.
Fernando, also known as Nando, was known to be an energetic fourth-grade student at Gilmore Fine Arts, but now he is fighting for his life thousands of miles away in Mexico.
"He was on a four-wheeler with a cousin of his, I believe, and he fell off. He was on the back and he fell off, almost hit his head, and just had a really bad headache from it," said Katie Castaneda, Nando's aunt.
Hours later, Nando's symptoms worsened. His family rushed him to a nearby hospital in Teocaltiche, Mexico where they learned he had a brain bleed that would require surgery followed by a medically induced coma.
"Seeing him there in the bed, because he was always happy, it's just hard," said Vanessa, Nando's mother holding back tears.
To make matters more difficult, the family is now struggling with insurance issues.
"Their insurance here said if there is an emergency that happens in a different country, they would cover it but the hospital is saying that they won't take that insurance anymore that they're not accepting that insurance. Every day they're paying about $5,000 a day to the hospital, " said Castaneda.
Their hope is to fly Nando home back to the U.S in a medical helicopter. The family has created a Go Fund Me page to help cover costs.
"They're saying the cost for that is $28,000," said Castaneda.
Doctors expect Nando to be in a coma for at least the next two days. His cousins back home in Racine hope he wakes up soon and can get back to being his goofy self.
"I just hope that everything is oksy and that he comes back as himself," said Angelina Garcia, Nando's older cousin.
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