Enerolisa was born with a VSD, a large hole in her heart. In the U.S., she would have had surgery when she was very young, but in her home country of the Dominican Republic, this surgery was unavailable to her. In June of 2005, when Enerolisa was 7, she underwent open-heart surgery at Cardinal Glennon Hospital in St. Louis. Her St. Louis host family was with her every step of the way for the next 6 weeks, throughout her surgery and recovery. Her surgery was a great success and Enerolisa flew home in August to a very happy mother and little brother -- and with a healthy future ahead of her.