Naomi’s Family

We are a small family composed of two; Naomi Sophia Rivera-Martínez and I, Dennise Rivera-Martinez, her mom.  We’re originally from Puerto Rico, but here is my story on how we made Georgia our home. Naomi Sophia is a happy girl, full of energy, and very intelligent. With her smile, she makes everyone who meets her fall in love with her. She was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico in 2016 to become one of the first cases of children born with Congenital Zika Syndrome. This syndrome caused Naomi Sophia to develop microcephaly and other developmental delays during my pregnancy. After many evaluations, medical studies and laboratory tests, many other diagnoses resulted in Naomi’s future being uncertain. Some of her diagnoses are spastic cerebral palsy, global developmental delay, microcephaly, frontal epilepsy, metabolic problems, and chromosomes disorder related to the possible development of future heart problems. Naomi doesn’t walk, crawls, sit on her own, or talk and also needs assistance feeding.

In the summer of 2019,  we made a trip to Georgia for vacation purposes; however, God had other plans. On the second day of our stay, our plans to visit the beautiful Atlanta Aquarium were changed to visit piedmont Hospital’s emergency room. Naomi Sophia arrived at the hospital with her lips and fingers totally blue, shaking, with a disoriented look, red dots on some parts of her body, fever, and other symptoms. After some lab tests, they diagnosed her with influenza and pneumonia. But that wasn’t all, the fever caused Naomi to have four seizures in less than 30 minutes. We were immediately transferred to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta where she received all the services needed to stabilize her. From that moment on, after the hospital experience in relation to the services and kindness from all the health professionals who served us, it was understood that Georgia would become our new home to continue looking for a better quality of life for Naomi.

Despite all the services, benefits and support that have been received during this time in Georgia, the economic factor remains of great concern to the family. However, many angels have come into our lives, including this beautiful foundation that served as a blessing to us in  2020,  making a great financial contribution to the purchase of a minivan with access to Naomi’s wheelchair. Now not only is transportation more comfortable and safer but also Naomi has a better view making travel a fun experience. For example, when we stop at the train crossing, she enjoys it (she loves trains). She also makes sounds to get people’s attention in other cars.We are a small family composed of two; Naomi Sophia Rivera-Martínez and I, Dennise Rivera-Martinez, her mom.  We’re originally from Puerto Rico, but here is my story on how we made Georgia our home. Naomi Sophia is a happy girl, full of energy, and very intelligent. With her smile, she makes everyone who meets her fall in love with her. She was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico in 2016 to become one of the first cases of children born with Congenital Zika Syndrome. This syndrome caused Naomi Sophia to develop microcephaly and other developmental delays during my pregnancy. After many evaluations, medical studies and laboratory tests, many other diagnoses resulted in Naomi’s future being uncertain. Some of her diagnoses are spastic cerebral palsy, global developmental delay, microcephaly, frontal epilepsy, metabolic problems, and chromosomes disorder related to the possible development of future heart problems. Naomi doesn’t walk, crawls, sit on her own, or talk and also needs assistance feeding.

In the summer of 2019,  we made a trip to Georgia for vacation purposes; however, God had other plans. On the second day of our stay, our plans to visit the beautiful Atlanta Aquarium were changed to visit piedmont Hospital’s emergency room. Naomi Sophia arrived at the hospital with her lips and fingers totally blue, shaking, with a disoriented look, red dots on some parts of her body, fever, and other symptoms. After some lab tests, they diagnosed her with influenza and pneumonia. But that wasn’t all, the fever caused Naomi to have four seizures in less than 30 minutes. We were immediately transferred to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta where she received all the services needed to stabilize her.

From that moment on, after the hospital experience in relation to the services and kindness from all the health professionals who served us, it was understood that Georgia would become our new home to continue looking for a better quality of life for Naomi.

Despite all the services, benefits and support that have been received during this time in Georgia, the economic factor remains of great concern to the family. However, many angels have come into our lives, including this beautiful foundation that served as a blessing to us in  2020,  making a great financial contribution to the purchase of a minivan with access to Naomi’s wheelchair. Now not only is transportation more comfortable and safer but also Naomi has a better view making travel a fun experience. For example, when we stop at the train crossing, she enjoys it (she loves trains). She also makes sounds to get people’s attention in other cars.

Gift: Down payment for handicap accessible van and Wal Mart gift card

Given: November 2020

Location: Ellenwood, Georgia