By Ramón Rentería / El Paso Times
Article Launched: 08/29/2007 12:00:00 AM MDT
Diana Morales uses her CB radio to advertise her homemade burritos and tamales to truckers in the area while parked in an empty lot next to the Flying J Truck Stop in Anthony. Morales is trying to raise about $25,000 to travel to China for an experimental stem-cell transplant.
(Mark Lambie / El Paso Times)
Article Launched: 08/29/2007 12:00:00 AM MDT
Diana Morales uses her CB radio to advertise her homemade burritos and tamales to truckers in the area while parked in an empty lot next to the Flying J Truck Stop in Anthony. Morales is trying to raise about $25,000 to travel to China for an experimental stem-cell transplant.
(Mark Lambie / El Paso Times)
Diana Morales has found a possible "repair kit" for her damaged body.
Morales, 35, is trying to raise $25,000 so that she can travel to China for an experimental transplant of umbilical-cord-blood stem cells.
She is optimistic the surgical procedure, available in the United States only in clinical research, will regenerate nerves in her spinal cord and help her regain feeling and movement in her paralyzed legs.
Morales is hopeful, too, that stem-cell treatments may someday help restore the ability to walk that she lost six years ago when a drunken driver pinned her against her lunch wagon near an Anthony, Texas, truck stop.
"I have faith something positive is going to come out of this," Morales said. "If God wants me to be in a wheelchair the rest of my life, ni modo. I have to accept whatever comes."
Some scientists and doctors consider stem cells one of the world's hottest research areas.
Stem-cell research is also very controversial because of its ethical implications. President Bush in 2006 vetoed a Senate bill that would have permitted federal dollars to be spent on embryonic stem-cell research using embryos left over from in vitro fertilization procedures.
Morales does not expect a miracle, but she has read the encouraging testimonials of others who have found relief in stem-cell therapies. She chose to pursue umbilical-cord-blood stem-cell treatments because of her Christian beliefs. One of her doctors suggested stem cells might be an option worth exploring.
Doctors have discovered in recent years that umbilical cord blood, usually discarded at birth, is rich in stem cells -- the body's building blocks -- that can be used to treat a variety of diseases.
The accident put Morales in a coma for two weeks and in the hospital for six months, paralyzed from the waist down.
Truck drivers along Interstate 10 truck call her the burrito lady and seek out her homemade burritos and tamales as an alternative to routine truck-stop chow.
Dave Hill, a Missouri truck driver, has known about Morales since she was selling burritos out of her car years ago. "The guys on the road talk about her all the time," Hill said. "She's an inspiration. I've got kids that won't even get out of bed. This woman told me one time that she's out here because it's better than being on welfare."
The Anthony, N.M., mother of three has been selling flautas, sponsoring dances and asking merchants for donations to cover the trip, the procedure and a monthlong rehabilitation. So far, she has raised $15,000.
According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, no type of stem-cell treatment is licensed in the United States.
Stem cells can be found throughout the body in tissues and organs and in umbilical-cord blood. The National Institutes of Health maintains updated information about federally and privately supported clinical stem-cell research in human volunteers.
The China trip represents another challenge in a string of struggles for Morales, who had just graduated from New Mexico State University with a degree in government and was looking forward to entering the job market when the accident changed everything.
Even her marriage ended after the accident, but Morales eventually regained custody of her children: Delilah, 13, Louie, 11, and Sabrina, 9.
Morales still has trouble adjusting to offensive stares. Every time she applies for a job, she says, prospective employers never call back once they find out she is disabled.
Friends and relatives describe Morales as a high-spirited wo man, always laughing and telling jokes and always looking after her children and a set of aging parents. She most misses dancing cumbias and corridos.
Brenda Velazquez, 24, a cousin, says Morales has remained very independent.
"She's never given up," Velazquez said. "She's a great role model."
Morales still parks her lunch wagon on an empty lot not far from the accident site and solicits truckers' business on a CB radio.
Rita Valenzuela, 44, works for Morales in the mobile kitchen.
"I admire the strength she has to try to get ahead," Valenzuela said. "Sometimes she is out here until midnight."
The burrito lady keeps on being optimistic, keeps praying that she'll collect enough money for a journey offering hope halfway around the world.
"I've gone through the worst already," Morales said. "What else can I lose?"
Ramón Rentería may be reached at rrenteria@elpasotimes.com; 546-6146.
To help
Diana Morales plans a fundraising flauta plate sale from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 7-8 at St. Anthony's Catholic Church, 224 Lincoln, in Anthony, N.M. $5 a plate.
Donations also may be made to: Diana Morales, P.O. Box 726, Anthony, NM 88021.
Information: 875-6066.
