Stillwater, Okla. — A Yucatecan man is banned from visiting the U.S. despite a Thanksgiving Day mishap that threatened his 2-year-old daughter’s life.
The family and friends of a little girl are raising money to aid her recovery.
The 2-year-old, Merida Miel Canche Gibson, was with her mother and sister, visiting relatives in Oklahoma when her grandmother accidentally struck her in a driveway with an SUV.
Merida and her sister, Isabel Canche Gibson, live in Oxkutzcab, Yucatán, with their California-born mother, Amber Gibson, and Mexican father, Miguel Canche.
Her father was deported from the U.S. eight years ago and is banned from re-entering the country. Efforts to issue him a travel visa on humanitarian grounds have been unsuccessful.
Merida was released Sunday from The Children’s Hospital at OU Medical Center. She will wear a neck brace and leg cast for about six weeks.
They had planned to return on Nov. 26, but will be in Oklahoma until her facial injuries, fractured skull and broken tibia are healed.
“Ten days ago family, friends, and even strangers solemnly waited to hear if Merida had made it through her helicopter flight to OU Children’s Hospital. Between the visible marks from the accident and the time she spent without a heartbeat, it would be several more days of waiting to find out if she would still be herself at all once she finally woke up,” a friend wrote on the GoFundMe page.
With information from the Stillwater News Press
