Cuahntemo Rocha stares out from the photo perched atop the
television set, looking healthy and alive while munching on pizza
crust
– his favorite snack.
Gilroy – Cuahntemo Rocha stares out from the photo perched atop the television set, looking healthy and alive while munching on pizza crust – his favorite snack.
But the baby with the cherubic cheeks and pinchable arms can now only be found in pictures and among the memories of those who loved him during his short life.
“He’s in heaven,” said Max Rocha, Cuahntemo’s father. “He’s so innocent.”
The saga began the evening of Aug. 23, when Denise Castro noticed a cut on her baby’s hand that appeared infected. After further examination she also saw an insect bite on his foot.
The young mother rushed Cuahntemo – one of her five children with boyfriend Rocha – to the hospital. At Saint Louise Regional Hospital the doctor diagnosed the baby with Cellulitis, a skin infection usually caused by a cut, insect bite or blister.
Castro, 23, left the hospital armed with a prescription for an antibiotic, Children’s Motrin for the fever, and information about her baby’s infection. Under the diagnosis of Cellulitis, it read “This is a serious condition. It must be watched closely to be sure the infection is not spreading.”
The instructions also said to expect the infected red area to return to normal after seven to 10 days. But in the hours following the hospital visit nothing returned to normal in the Rocha household.
Cuahntemo continued to fuss all night long.
“Just like any mother – I have four other ones – I knew something was wrong with him,” Castro said.
But, she explained, her baby boy couldn’t tell her what was wrong.
“His sickness was on the inside of his body,” she said.
The next morning, his veins popping out and his body swollen, the two parents headed to their pediatrician. The moment the doctor saw the toddler she said “go to the hospital now,” Castro said.
Back at Saint Louise, doctors swarmed around the little body, but their efforts weren’t enough. Cuahntemo died that day, two months before his first birthday.
“If you were to just blink your eye, that’s how fast it was,” Castro said, describing her baby’s death.
Talk of Cuahntemo’s death quickly traveled north. On Thursday night, a Safeway checker discussed the incident with another mother, saying how the mystery surrounding the insect bite concerned her since she also has a young baby.
Autopsy results won’t be available for at least three weeks, but the couple said the hospital ruled out West Nile and other viruses after drawing blood. Hospital spokeswoman Vivian Smith said she was unable to provide additional information regarding the boy’s death before press time. Hospital officials were unavailable as of presstime.
Castro wants other parents to know about the death so that they’ll know when the condition is serious and the symptoms aren’t simply the result of teething.
“I just want to know what was the cause of my baby’s death,” she said.
At their Gilroy home, the recent death clung to the air, even in the midst of a smiling 3-year-old wearing a red Superman cape. Layers of family photos, Jesus candles, biblical references and sympathy cards covered the top of the television and fireplace mantel.
Even a tiny picture of Cuahntemo still in the womb peeked out from among the photos. And in memory of his baby boy, Rocha, 25, strung a picture of his son on a silver pendant around his neck.
Today, the family – which includes Adriana, 7, Alyssa, 6, Max, 5 and Johnny Angel, 3 – will head to Morgan Hill and say good-bye to Cuahntemo. He’ll be dressed in his new white suit, lying in a tiny coffin.
But the mood will be less somber in October when the family holds the birthday Cuahntemo never had a chance to celebrate.
“Most definitely we’re gonna have pizza because he liked crust,” Rocha said.
