Full transcript
0:01on a narrow bridge dividing two nations
0:04thousands of Venezuelans crossed the
0:06border each day into neighboring
0:08Columbia for grecia Sawalha
0:10the truck is more than a hunt for food
0:12or work I'm present with hope in search
0:16of life the 32 year-old cancer patient
0:19has crossed the border bridge dozens of
0:21times in search of life-saving treatment
0:24the only radiation machine in her City
0:26doesn't work as Venezuela's humanitarian
0:28crisis worsens rising numbers are
0:31flooding Colombia in search of medical
0:33care training the country's already weak
0:35health system at the irascible males
0:37Hospital in cucuta patients are packed
0:39side by side in the ER their care often
0:42requiring costly treatments the
0:44cash-strapped hospital can't afford we
0:48handled the emergency care and beyond
0:50that there is no more we can do the
0:53daily arrivals include pregnant women
0:55patients with transmittable diseases and
0:57sickly children like three-year-old luna
1:00who weighed just 17 pounds when she fled
1:02venezuela elena nikolaeva we had to feed
1:05her potatoes yuca just vegetables no
1:08matter how much of that it's not enough
1:09to nourish a child her age several
1:12million Venezuelans have fled in a
1:14burgeoning refugee crisis sounding alarm
1:17bells throughout Latin America some so
1:19desperate they're willing to sleep on
1:21Colombia streets my mom is sick who
1:25needs medicine we can't get in Venezuela
1:29Grecia Sawalha and her husband has spent
1:31the last four months seeking the
1:33required authorizations to get treatment
1:35for her cervical cancer the rubber tires
1:37of her wheelchair so worn down they're
1:39about to break apart I don't want my
1:43daughter to be left without a mom her
1:45doctors in Venezuela performed a
1:47hysterectomy last year but were unable
1:48to provide chemo or radiation on a
1:51recent afternoon they finally got the
1:52green light to begin sibylla's treatment
1:55since I cross the border in search of
1:58help this was my dream for me this
2:00moment is the start of a dream one more
2:04hurdle crossed in a fight for survival
2:06Cristina Mario The Associated Press