Armando Rubio says his 13-year-old daughter Hannah is in an ICU in Phoenix after a brain bleed, but he has not been able to get to her. He said he was turned away at the border even after arriving with paperwork he had been told to bring.
Rubio posted the update on Wednesday, July 15, and followed it with another on Thursday, July 16, as doctors prepared to do more tests on Hannah. That is why the search around Armando Rubio Daughter Icu Arizona is happening now: a sudden medical crisis is unfolding at the same time as her father is stuck in Mexico, unable to sit at her bedside.
Rubio said the emergency began while he was working at his shop in Mexico and Hannah called crying, telling him she was not feeling good. He said he noticed her face was droopy on one side and that half of her body had no strength. Doctors then found blood in her brain, and a doctor in their small town in Mexico recommended that she be airlifted to Arizona for specialized treatment and testing equipment. Rubio and Kenny Niedermeier agreed because of how serious her condition was.
By Rubio's account, the fight to get to Phoenix has been almost as difficult as the medical crisis itself. He said he could not obtain a humanitarian visa after being told the option had not been available for two years, and border authorities told him that type of visa was not available at ports of entry. He said the hospital sent border documents explaining how grave Hannah's condition was, and he arrived with everything he believed was needed, only to be turned away without a review. The gap between the paperwork and the decision is what has left him separated from his daughter at the moment he wants to be closest.
Rubio said Kenny Niedermeier is with Hannah in the hospital, which gives him some comfort, but he added that he is still not with her yet. He also said doctors planned an endoscopic procedure through Hannah's neck to find answers, a step that suggests they are still trying to determine what is causing the bleeding and what comes next. Rubio said he and his family were working with an immigration attorney to explore other options, while a GoFundMe page he shared to help with medical bills had raised over $106,000 by Thursday. For now, the central fact is unchanged: Hannah is being treated in Phoenix, and her father is still trying to get through the border before the next decision is made about her care.
