06 25 2007 - Luz Estephanie Machiavello, 5, and her father Hilmer are greeted at Tampa International Airport on Monday by CardioStart representatives Kerry Yonushonis (left), her 7-month-old son Lucca, and Eliana Morla after arriving from Lima, Peru. Estephanie lost her right arm in a moped accident in January. After a 14-hour journey to a hospital from her village in the jungle, doctors were able to reattach it. When the doctors decided they needed to re-amputate the arm, Estephanie had suffered three months of treatment for an infection that became gangrenous. "She was so tired and wanted to go home, she said, 'I don't care, just cut it off.'" Yonushonis recounted. Morla, a CardioStart representative in Lima, met Estephanie in the hospital and helped arrange her trip here for eight weeks of medical procedures. CardioStart provides education and medical supplies through volunteer teams of health care experts to countries experiencing conflict, natural disaster or economic disadvantage. The Shriners of Tampa have volunteered to pay for her prosthetic arm as well as a new prosthesis she will need every six to eight months until she is 18. The Machiavellos took a 6 hour boat ride and 20 hour bus trip from their village to reach Lima this weekend. American Airlines donated the flight to Tampa. Hilmer is a farmer, and the family of six will be without his income for the next two months. Donations can be made to a CardioStart account in Estephanie's name at the Royal Bank Centura of Brandon to support the family at home in Peru. BRIAN CASSELLA | Times Staff Writer
¶ 2:37 PM
