‘Medical hostage’ situation in Mexico ends; family, newborn back in Indy
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A baby boy born premature to an Indiana couple while they vacationed in Mexico is back in the United States.
24-Hour News 8 first reported about Beckham Lake Ralph and his family on Wednesday, in what was being called a medical hostage situation.
A hospital in Cancun refused to release the baby, as they continued to demand additional cash payments from the new parents.
Getting Beckham home wasn’t easy. His grandparents have worked around the clock since he was born, pulling every resource they could think of.
Ultimately they credit friends, family and a local congressman’s office for helping to get Hospiten Cancun to release Beckham.
“The moment we knew that the ambulance was there and they were getting in there and getting to the tarmac and getting on that plane, it was just … words can’t describe it,” said Linda Ralph, Beckham’s grandmother.
Breathing a sigh of relief, this family says a nightmare situation in Mexico has come to an end. Beckham Lake Ralph is at Riley Hospital for Children as of Thursday evening.
Getting him out of Hospiten Cancun, where he was born, wasn’t easy.
“This Mexican hospital was extorting this family, continuing to ask for more and more money nearly every hour to release him,” said U.S. Rep. Trey Hollingsworth (R-IN).
Hollingsworth says his office got involved the moment they heard about what happened. Beckham Lake Ralph was born prematurely, weighing less than three pounds.
“Baby Beckham’s life literally was hanging in the balance,” said Hollingsworth.
While family worked to gather money to send to Hospiten Cancun for Beckham’s release, Hollingsworth’s staff was also hard at work.
“Started calling the State Department, started calling U.S. Customs, anybody and everybody who would answer their phone,” said Hollingsworth.
The process included getting Beckham a United States birth certificate, finding a hospital here in the U.S. that would take him and negotiating with Hospiten Cancun in Mexico for Beckham’s release.
“We had to get the State Department involved. In fact, thought we would have to send a security officer to escort them from the premises,” said Hollingsworth.
Ultimately family ended up paying the Mexican hospital more than $37,000. The medical air evacuation cost was an additional $17,000.
Family says they will worry about the money later — right now they’re just thankful Beckham and his parents are back home.
A GoFundMe account has been set up to help the family. You can help by donating here.