Lourdes López was struck with meningitis when she was 3 months old.

The disease impacted her brain.

“When she was 3 months old Lourdes fell into inactivity. I told the doctor the girl had something rare but he laughed at me saying I looked like a first-timer,” says Wilda López , her mother. “One day I saw something like apple purée coming out of one of her ears while the fever began to rise and she started having convulsions. We took her to the hospital, but the infection had already reached her cerebellum. The strong convulsions and the fever lasted 15 days.”

Wilda had conceived Lourdes 14 years after her two brothers. After the meningitis, a neurologist in her native country, Peru, told her, “Not even God can save her.’’

But the family never gave up hope.

“At home we would rub her and rub her to see if there was any reaction; she looked like a rag doll, ’’ López says. “We massaged her and prayed.”

The baby began to improve and despite having been told that she would never see, hear or move, she began to see and move a little. She also can hear out of one ear.

“My two older children, my husband and I tried everything,” López says.

The family moved to the United States 18 years ago to give Lourdes more opportunities for advanced medical care.

“It was difficult because we had the language barrier and at the same time we had to fight for her,” says López. “My daughter has frequent convulsions and any strong stimulus provokes a convulsion, either when she is very sad or when she is very happy.”

Now 23, Lourdes has managed to walk some steps, has attended a school for disabled children and watches television.

“She loves telenovelas. We play animated movies and children’s stories, but what really fascinates her are the telenovelas, I imagine because they are more like real life,” Wilda says. “She also loves to look at the mirror. She is all love!”

However, Lourdes has been having convulsions in her sleep lately. Her mother, 60, has to move her by herself to avoid any possible choking.

“My husband is a truck driver,” López says, “and I have to run to lift her up and suction her secretion to prevent her from choking.”

Lourdes sleeps now in a manual bed, but her mother is seeking a hospital bed for her.

“The bed I now have has to be moved by turning a handle. It’s very difficult to do that and at the same time lift her little head to suction her.”

Besides, when she has convulsions, the mother says, Lourdes turns rigid and a stronger effort is required.

“With my osteoporosis I can’t do it alone.”