Getting started

Cuidemonos is an idea I came up with after going through a horrible experience. When I was 14 my dad had a heart attack. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever gone through. I was about to lose one of the most important persons in my life. 

I was in my home town, Alajuela with my mom and my sisters. My dad stayed in Guanacaste because he had to work. One day he went to renovate his driving license. To do so, he needed a medical check out. When they took their blood pressure, it turns out that it was extremely high, so much that he was told to go to the hospital immediately.  

To be honest, my dad was not making the best choices at that time. Instead of heading to the hospital like he was told, he decided to grab a beer with some friends. Is important to mention that he never told me or my mom about his high blood pressure. 

That same night, my dad went home and was not feeling good at all. His arm was numb, and it was extremely hard for him to breathe. He called his brother and asked him to take him to the hospital immediately. My uncle called my mom and told her what was happening. 

Meanwhile, that was happening, my mom, my sisters, my grandmother, my cousins and I were having a movie night. I noticed my mom received a called and she weirdly left the room without saying anything. I noticed, by looking at her face, that something was wrong, very wrong. I couldn’t help myself and I followed her. She didn’t notice I followed her, I was able to hear everything, especially hearing the doctor say “ He is having a heart attack” Those words have been haunting me since then.  I screamed and cried, my mom saw me and she cried too. 

I went back to the room and started packing my stuff. My mom called her cousin and asked him to drive us back to Guanacaste. It was midnight already but my mom and I had to get there somehow. Her cousin took us there and stayed with us for a week. 

I was a minor and I couldn’t go in and see my dad. The second day, I sneaked into a side of the hospital and saw my dad through a window. I still have that image of dad, he was hardly standing. 

Going through this experience, was scary and I don’t want to go through the same thing again. Neither I want for more people to go through the same situation. Which is why my project is focused on looking into people’s hearts. Taking a blood pressure test, and electrocardiograms.

With this project, I feel like I can prevent many families from suffering the feeling of almost losing a loved one. I am happy and excited for this project to happen.