Rosemary Garcia
SAN ANTONIO, Texas (KVIA) — An El Paso woman now living in San Antonio, Texas, is gearing up to embark on a new adventure in the United Kingdom.
Twenty-four-year-old Mia Gonzalez is a native El Pasoan who graduated from Montwood High School. She earned her bachelor’s degree from St. Mary’s University and her master’s degree from UT Health San Antonio. She was recently accepted into a five-year program at the Brunel Medical School in London.
She wants to become a physician specializing in neonatal genetics with a focus on neurological disorders. Neonatal genetics identifies inherited conditions in newborns.
Her field of study is personal for her family. In 2012, Mia’s mother, Amy Gonzalez, was diagnosed with ALS after becoming very ill and gradually losing strength in her arms. Just one day after being diagnosed, Amy died. Mia was just 10 years old at the time. Mia’s grandfather also died of ALS.
ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a progressive nervous system disease that destroys cells in the spinal cord and the brain. Over time, the cells die and stop sending signals to muscles, resulting in severe muscle weakness and eventual loss of movement, speech and breathing.
During college, Gonzalez also started experiencing ALS symptoms of her own. Just three years ago, she received a positive ALS diagnosis.
“I broke down on the staircase, and I called my brother’s name out, and I just started sobbing,” she said.
She’s currently undergoing a clinical trial. She said some of the symptoms she lives with affect her day-to-day life.
“I have a lot of shortness of breath. Or also, like, it’s kind of hard to walk downstairs. Breathing is difficult at times, but I have an amazing team of doctors,” she said.
Her ALS diagnosis propelled her to be positive and pursue her passions. She’s motivated to pursue medical school to help others who’ve received a similar diagnosis.
“I want to help them out and make sure that they get into clinical trials and live a happy, long life so that way they don’t ever have to face anything like my family did,” Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez hopes that her journey of living with ALS shows others that a medical diagnosis doesn’t limit you. She wants to make her mother proud.
The support of her family has carried her through this difficult time.
Gonzalez said she decided to study overseas because of accommodations the college offered her. She would like to return to the United States and practice medicine here.
In the coming weeks, Gonzalez will move England. If you would like to help her financially, you can donate here.
If you have a Good Vibes Only story idea, please e-mail rosemary.garcia@kvia.com.
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