16 year old student’s life changed due to mysterious illness, family seeks help
ORANGE COUNTY, Florida. Valeria Arraiz, 16, is at home and slowly recovering after nearly a month in the hospital.
She is a student at West Orange High School, but has not seen the classroom since returning home in a bad mood in January.
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Her parents took her to AdventHealth Children’s Hospital where she spent several weeks.
Valeria’s father, Carlos Arrais, said she was unable to eat, walk or talk. Health officials have run several tests but have yet to diagnose the teenager.
Carlos said the hardest part about all of this is that the doctors can’t explain to them why it’s happening.
“The doctor said, “You have to wait. You need to wait. You need to be patient,” said Carlos Arrais.
Valeria Arraiz is the eldest of three siblings. Her siblings help her mom and dad support her on this unexpected health journey.
At the moment, Carlos Arrais is the only one who works, while his wife looks after Valeria at home all day.
The family moved to Central Florida from Venezuela in 2017, so finding financial and emotional support is difficult.
“The first week I cried, I think every day, because you never know why or what happened, this situation,” said Carlos Arrais.
He said the family prays every day for Valeria Arrais’ speedy full recovery.
“Valeria, she is wonderful, she is sweet, you know, she is a good student. She has good grades,” Carlos said.
Valeria also loved the modeling business; she competed in pageants such as Miss Latina Tampa.
Even while battling illness, the star student can’t wait to get back to his books.
“Yesterday and today she asked me: “Hi dad, can I go back to school?” Carlos said.
Valeria’s teacher, Marisol Gerritsen, said she misses her every day in class.
She tried to contact people in the local government to help the family pay the rent as they were now bogged down in medical bills.
The family has an active GoFundMe. If you would like to help them with a donation, click here.
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texasstandard.news contributed to this report.
