Oralia’s Mendez’s family say their 23-year-old sister was caring, loving and always wanted to help out others.
She was the oldest of eight children.
"She had a lot of goals and dreams. She wanted to go back to school, she wanted to get into the medical field and help people like they helped her when she was sick. She had plans of having a baby and getting married next month,” said her sister Ashlee Mendez.
But those plans came to a crashing halt this weekend when Oralia collapsed on a bus.
"We talked to her all morning and everything was fine. We were supposed to go pick her up. Then we got a call and they said she passed out and she wasn't breathing,” said Ashlee.
At the age of 14, Oralia was diagnosed with kidney failure. She received two weekly dialysis treatments for her condition.
But when she left on a four-day trip to visit her fiancé in Laredo, Oralia missed last week's critical appointments.
Her family said a preliminary autopsy report lists "no dialysis" as cause of death.
Doctor Brajesh Batla in Harlingen has been a nephrologists for more than 25 years. He says skipping treatments can pose serious risks.
"If they don't go to dialysis, this can cause a rise in potassium, which can cause a heart attack and people can die suddenly,” Dr. Batla said.
Dr. Batla says even missing one treatment can be deadly.
He says dialysis treatments are crucial in order to prevent any complications..
"Even after years of being on dialysis missing one treatment can endanger their life,” Dr. Batla said.
Oralia's family said it wasn't like her to miss appointments.
They said she thought she would fine since this was a rare occasion
As the family prepares to deal with this tragedy they say Oralia, who was always ready to help those in need, is sending an important message now that could end up saving someone else's life.
The family is preparing for the burial of Oralia this Friday.
They are in need of donations.
Anyone who can assist can make a deposit at an IBC bank in the name of grandmother and trustee Edelmira Rojas.
The account number is 1011119919 of IBC.
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