Lopez' heartfelt thank you

Dear Ava's Angels,

Over the past 3 weeks Ava has shown a miraculous ability to survive the horrific trauma that threatened to take her life. Our focus during this time has been solely placed on Ava, yet we realize that the reason that she has been doing so well is because of the prayers that all of you have been saying for her and our family. We have felt that we have been under water for the past 3 weeks and just now have come up for air. As I sit here next to a medically stable Ava late at night we have so many people to thank. There are so many that have been there for us that we prefer not to name anyone for fear of leaving someone out. Please understand that our family is eternally grateful to all of you that have supported us and prayed for Ava. The people include family, old friends, recent friends, and people who have never met us. Thank you to all of you that read this website on a daily basis and have provided such wonderful heartfelt comments.

Why a tragedy like this has to occur may never make sense to any of us, but it is our responsibility that some good come from this. Three weeks ago there was “a good chance” that Ava would not survive. Today she is well on her way to a hopefully full recovery. We know the recovery process will be long, but at least she is here to go through the process. There are many families that have been less fortunate. The story of Ava has touched thousands of people all over the country. Let’s use that power to support MADD and strengthen the consequences of reckless acts of drinking and driving. Locally we can contact our District Attorneys office as well as State Senators Wentworth and Van De Putte to let them know that this senseless act will not go unpunished and that we will not rest until justice is served. God and our family will eventually forgive the person that nearly killed three members of our family, but in a free society there are consequences for reckless acts.

On a lighter note, one person that must be named for their efforts is the primary author of this Caringbridge journal, Fred. For those that don’t know Fred, I’m sure you would like to know a bit about him. Fred and I met about 15 years ago in medical school. Fred was president of our class all 4 years which was no small accomplishment considering the strong personalities within a medical school class. Fred like Ava is a survivor. Fred was diagnosed with an advanced colon cancer almost 6 years ago. He underwent extensive therapy which he documented on his own Caringbridge site back then which I followed daily being moved by his ease of the written word as he described his struggles with the therapy. Fred, as you can imagine has an amazing family and incredible friends that supported him during his fight against cancer, just as Ava is supported by all of you. To give you an idea of Fred’s dedication to his family, Fred became an Ob/Gyn after medical school. Five years after completing his residency, Fred realized that his job was keeping him away from his family (wife Jennifer, two daughters Abbie and Sadie, and two sons Nathaniel and Evan). Instead of just saying oh well, Fred took the brave action to apply for a radiology residency here in San Antonio. So 10 years after graduating medical school, Fred is now a 2nd year resident in Radiology with 3 more years to go after this one. So keep in mind as you read his updates that he is writing them as he is being an amazing dad and enduring the daily grind of being a resident. Thank you Fred for being an incredible friend!


Lastly, this Friday May15th Col Joe Brennan is starting his 6-7 month deployment to Afghanistan to be the Head and Neck surgeon at Baghram Air Base. Please pray for Joe’s beautiful family as the deployments are always harder on those back at home, and pray that Joe has a safe return home.

God bless you all for all that you have done.

The Lopez family.In case you haven't had a chance to see the amazing slideshow that Lilianna Story put together, please take a look at the following link:

www.liliannastoryslideshow.com/avarally

Also, be sure to check the previous post for t-shirt and the MADD walk info.