Heritage Victor Valley Medical Group in Victorville Helps To Save Boy’s Life
Sponsored by: Heritage Victor Valley Medical Group
On what began as an ordinary September day in 2007 in Victorville, CA, Angelina DeRugama watched in horror as her 6-year-old son, Nicholas, began throwing up, grabbed the living room wall where he’d been playing, and yelled, “Mommy, it’s spinning!”
With the help of the local fire department, Nick was rushed from his home in Victorville to the closest hospital, but the caregivers there thought it was vertigo and sent him home.
By the next day, his condition had worsened. That’s when Loyda Gonzalez, who had just started working as a member services representative at Heritage Victor Valley Medical Group, stepped in to make the impossible happen.
The nearby children’s hospital was full, so Gonzalez quickly arranged for Nick to be flown by helicopter to Loma Linda University Medical Center.
“The mom, of course, was very desperate. It was very hard on her not knowing what was going on with her child,” Gonzalez recalls. “And time was of the essence.”
The doctors at Loma Linda performed an emergency craniotomy to reduce the swelling in Nick’s brain. He had suffered a stroke and would need a team of specialists to help him walk, talk and breathe again on his own. Gonzalez’s work was far from over.
“We had to work pretty fast to make sure that all his appointments were scheduled, and all referrals approved were sent to all these specialists,” says Gonzalez, now director of the department. “When you have a stroke, everything is time-sensitive in how soon they’re going to need speech and physical therapy. We make sure that we expedite everything. Our goal is to make sure that these patients don’t end up back in the hospital.
I showed the mother that she could count on me if she needed anything, that we were available to her at all times and would not leave her alone.”
Gonzalez also secured approval for a walker for Nick, and the Heritage staff welcomed him with balloons when he left rehab. But what touched DeRugama’s heart the most was that Gonzalez swiftly procured a helmet to protect the boy’s open, post-surgery skull as soon as the worried mom asked for it. “Loyda performed miracles for my son,” DeRugama, says.
Nick is now 22 and a member of the U.S. Air Force.
At a recent health expo, DeRugama, a financial advisor, was delighted to see a Heritage vendor display just steps away from hers.
By the time she’d finished talking to the medical group’s representative, who was already familiar with Nick’s story, she had pulled out a photo of him to send to Gonzalez. The two recently reunited and now stay in touch.
“Heritage went above and beyond the call of duty,” DeRugama insists. “They took it personal and took care of Nick like he was their own. They saved my son’s life.”
