No Boundaries: Juan Diego's Story

Juan Diego:

I'm Juan Diego. Welcome to Tegucigalpa, my hometown located in Honduras. This is a place where I was born and raised, just like, pretty much like any other normal kid.

Jackie:

[Spanish 00:11:40].

Juan Carlos:

My memories are of him being my best friend. I always wanted to play with him, in my team and all that, and I will always defend him. And yes, because I'm the older brother, and I was very protective about him since little.

Juan Carlos:

[Spanish 00:12:50].

Juan Diego:

When I was 13, my mom decided to move to a new apartment, which was on the third floor facing the street under construction. Since it was under construction, the apartment wasn't totally finished. There was a window without the glass facing the street, at the same height of the light post with some high voltages wires in front of it.

Jackie:

[Spanish 00:13:29].

Juan Diego:

Faster than the blink of an eye, I just felt like all the charge, all the electricity literally going through my body. It was so fast, you don't have time to react to it. My heart starts rushing really fast, to the point that you feel that your heart is going to explode. And suddenly all the lights turn off, and you just kind of feel like, in this lonely cave all by yourself. Because I was able to hear my mother scream, because of her worry.

Jackie:

[Spanish 00:15:02].

Juan Diego:

So, suddenly I just woke up really scared. Because one of the neighbor was giving me CPR, so I couldn't react. I just saw five peoples around me and they were like, "Are you okay? Are you okay?" They gave me a cup of water, and suddenly I was trying to stand up, but I couldn't. And obviously they didn't let me, so why I can't stand up? And I just felt like, as if I didn't have no arms, because I wasn't unable to move it. And that's when I realized, and I look around me, and I just saw all of my hands burned.

Jackie:

[Spanish 00:15:51].

Juan Carlos:

[Spanish 00:15:54].

Juan Diego:

Day by day, just knowing what to be a burn survivor means, and experiencing all the processes, all the pains. I remember one night I just started to experience that feeling of being powerless. One of the nurses called my family, and I remember just like 10 persons trying to fit in this little door, and they were just trying to, "Hi, hi," and all of that. And I just remember a smile on my face, but tears on my

eyes, of just seeing them. And started to see how special they are, and started to experience that feeling that I'm not alone at that moment.

Jackie:

[Spanish 00:17:45].

Juan Carlos:

[Spanish 00:18:47].

Juan Diego:

I remember going to my first appointment. And they were just really nice, and careful with me, like taking my bandages off. They understand, because at the time, I haven't seen my hands. My parents just told me, "They have to make some amputations in your fingers," but I have never looked at my hands.

Jackie:

[Spanish 00:19:51].

Courtney Updegrove:

I think the first thing I always say about Juan Diego, is he has the best attitude that you could ever have. He has a great future to look for. He's always looking forward. And I always say he is one of those bright stars that everyone always looks for.

Dr. Joseph Upton:

I think it's pretty amazing. Because the burn had to go one arm, through the other arm, and the heart is in between. And usually, they'll fibrillate and not survive. And he of course, did survive. We had to give him a feeling, a sensation. And of course, love to do this in kids, because they get such great results. And that's basically doing a nerve graft, so we take nerves from somewhere else in his body and move it into his hand.

Dr. Branko Bojovic:

I would say part of my treatment role in his care, was coming out in that sort of form and appearance, and improving some of the things that we would look at from an appearance standpoint, and complimenting what functional gains he's already had, and helping to soften things up in terms of a lot of his scarrings. Juan Diego has a moniker as being known as the mayor of the hospital. When he shows up, it's almost like there's a motorcade that's bringing him.

Juan Diego:

It was just after my nerve graft surgery, where I had these really huge scars in my hand. And I remember asking my doctor, "Doctor, do you think, am I going to have this scar?" And he was just dead serious, like, "Kid, we're surgeons. We don't leave scars in here." I was like, no way. This guy is something else. And just as he said, one month later, I wasn't able to see the same scar. And to this day, you don't see any scarring here. That's the way I can summarize the treatment in Shriners.

Juan Carlos:

Juan Diego is like light in the darkness. Doesn't matter where he is, he always shines. He always brings the best out of everyone, and that's why I think he's a great leader. There's this phrase that now we say in our family, that the biggest battles are given to God's biggest warriors. And well, that's the battle that was given to Juan Diego.

Jackie:

[Spanish 00:23:38].

Juan Carlos:

[Spanish 00:23:38].

Juan Diego:

Technically, I'm not supposed to be alive. I'm not supposed to have hands. That just amazes me. The purpose of all of this, is to show how good God is in all of this. Coming here, it's like the greatest comeback you can think about. Five years after the accident, just as good as I am, with this attitude, hoping to help so many people with now, as an international patient ambassador. It's just like laughing in the face of this building, because it just couldn't stop me. Because it wasn't me, it was my family helping me, my friends, and overall just God being sovereign. It's not thanks to me. It's just thanks to all the people that helped me, including Shriners.