Before wrapping up her speech, Zafrilla pointed out that “a life is never less of a life according to what your abilities are, because we are not machines and our value is not based on what we produce.”
A Heart Half Trotting Like a Horse
Clara and Diego, accompanied by their three children, also shared their testimony. Their youngest child, Felipe, was diagnosed with congenital heart disease (hypoplastic single ventricle syndrome) at 20 weeks. His mother mentioned that they were informed that the boy wouldn’t survive until birth.
At the initial ultrasound at 6 weeks, Clara vividly remembered hearing the baby’s heart “half trotting like a horse.” When they received the diagnosis, they were given a grim prognosis of “a short and bleak, catastrophic life,” she recalled.
Further Details in Europe
Clara and Diego, alongside their three children, took the stage to narrate their journey at Spain’s 2024 March for Life. Credit: Yes to Life/Sí a la Vida
Throughout the pregnancy, the medical professionals inquired if they were ready “because it was going to be quite a challenging life,” to which Clara responded: “I believe we can all attest to having complex lives, irrespective of illness. And in this instance, yes, it has been challenging, but brimming with happiness.”
Fortunately, the dire prediction did not come to pass, and the unwavering determination of Felipe’s parents compelled the doctors to exert all efforts to save the child. “They spared no effort,” Clara acknowledged, to the extent that this procedure was carried out in 2021 with the donor in asystole, a form of cardiac arrest, and the blood type being incompatible.
Regarding her older children, Clara expressed proudly: “They are prepared for the suffering, the illness, and the possible demise they know might occur. They are prepared for that as well as for going to the park.”
Clara concluded her address by urging everyone to conquer the fear that arises in such circumstances: “It paralyzes you. But any decision rooted in love, which is to pursue life, is a wise one. You are a good mother and a mother, even if your eyes don’t witness that ultrasound because they opt not to show it to you, even if your ears don’t hear it, you are still a mother.”
The event culminated in releasing balloons into the sky and a live ultrasound of a baby at 25 weeks, where the only audible sound was the beating heart.
This article by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
Nicolás de Cárdenas has served as the correspondent for ACI Prensa in Spain since July 2022. Throughout his journalistic career, he has specialized in socio-religious subjects and has also collaborated with local and international civil associations.