Daniela’s Journey: Overcoming Moebius Syndrome

Daniela is a 10-year-old girl, and we are from Comalcalco, Tabasco, Mexico. She was born with Moebius Syndrome, and since she was a baby, she has received the necessary treatment to provide her with a better quality of life. Aside from her therapies, she needed more exercise to strengthen the muscles in her legs and body, so she began training in athletics. For several years now, she has been running 5k races.

We continue to encourage her passion for athletics. Every year, we organize a recreational race for anyone who wants to join Daniela in running and help spread awareness about Moebius Syndrome.

As a family, it has been very complicated. As her mother, I made a promise to myself that every January 24th, I would dedicate my time to spreading awareness because it was such a difficult journey for me. Along the way, I also found people who guided me.

Early Challenges and Resilience

When Daniela was born, she couldn't breastfeed because she has facial paralysis on her right side. After leaving the hospital, I took her to a pediatrician who simply told me she had facial paralysis and referred me to a neuropediatrician. He ordered a series of studies and tests to rule out any intellectual disabilities. When she was just 15 days old, while undergoing an MRI and having more blood drawn for an expanded newborn screening, she was clinically dead for several minutes. They resuscitated her, and she remained in this world.

After the MRI results, she was sent to therapy, where she received massages, ultrasounds, and electrical stimulation on her face. This helped a lot, but she still couldn't hold her head up. We tried pool therapy, but we still weren't seeing results. We had to move to Querétaro looking for alternatives, and there we found a therapist who helped her so much that she began walking on schedule.

Finding Answers

It was actually an ophthalmologist who finally gave us her diagnosis. Once I knew what it was, I began researching the syndrome. God led us to Mexico City, to the Hospital Manuel Gea González, where she has been followed by Moebius specialists all these years. We are now waiting for her "smile surgery" with Dr. Alexander Cárdenas.

Now that she has grown up, she is not only an excellent elementary school student but, as mentioned before, she has taken up athletics despite lacking peripheral vision.