AMARILLO, Texas (AP) - In a May 9 AP Member Exchange by the Amarillo Globe-News about a fatal gas poisoning in Amarillo, The Associated Press misspelled the writer’s last name. He is Ben Egel, not Engel.
A corrected version of the story is below:
Donations help Amarillo family after accidental deaths of 4
An Amarillo couple dealing with the January accidental pesticide poisoning that killed four of their eight children will have a new home
This is an AP Member Exchange shared by the Amarillo Globe-News
By BEN EGEL
Amarillo Globe-News
AMARILLO, Texas (AP) - After the accidental pesticide poisoning that killed four of Peter and Martha Balderas’ children and hospitalized their remaining four kids as well as the parents on Jan. 2, the family has bounced around, depending upon the kindness of their parish and friends to keep a roof over their heads.
The Amarillo Globe-News (https://bit.ly/2qmxAWt) reports they’ve moved from the Baptist St. Anthony Health System to the care of the St. Laurence Catholic Church to a friend’s house in northwest Amarillo. And now, next door to the home where they lost nearly half their family, the Balderases are starting to rebuild.
The five-bedroom, two bathroom wood house under construction will be 3,163 square feet and is valued at $319,225 plus a $4,000 carport, according to city permits.
Peter Balderas said he expects it to be finished around October.
Why build next door to where he lost four children?
Balderas said there is no escaping what happened to him and his family.
Images of his four deceased children - Yasmeen, 17; Josue, 11; Johnnie, 9; and Felipe, 7- will remain burned in his mind for the rest of his life, he said.
With avoiding them not an option, he wants to demolish the old house and build a memorial to them that includes crosses, their pictures and trees in a place where his family can pray.
“Say I go to Kansas or Mexico City. All the pictures are sticking with me, all the videos and everything,” he said. “We have to stay close because the babies are buried right here in this town.
“We can’t leave. We have to live here for the rest of (our) lives, and stay and do something for this property. A memorial - something beautiful.”
Balderas said five of his eight children slept on the floor of the manufactured home where tragedy struck in January. He said he was determined going forward that each of his children would have their own room where they could sleep.
The family previously owned the lot next door, and Balderas bought an additional lot in February.
The new home will stretch across both parcels.
Balderas plans to tear down the manufactured home where his family once lived and create a park-like memorial for them in its place.
Valued at $50,000 by the Potter-Randall Appraisal District, it had $40,000 remaining on its mortgage until recently when Wells Fargo Assistant Vice President of Corporate Communications Ruth Villalonga said the institution would, “write off the balance of his loan and will not hold him accountable for further repayment of the debt.”
For months, Amarilloans have opened their homes and pocketbooks to help the Balderases get back to the point they are at.
Balderas said that continues. Rebar and concrete for the new house have been donated by A-1 Building Supply, Thomas Redi-Mix Co. and MH Civil Constructing, and family friends are helping Balderas build it for no pay.
The city of Amarillo waived all fees for water and sewer extensions and taps on the new house, Deputy Building Official Jonathan Lofton said, and will likely waive construction permit fees as well.
A GoFundMe page set up after the incident raised $51,253, and a Balderas Family Benefit Fund was established at Amarillo National Bank. Patti McKnight, the main bank’s lobby manager, said she could not disclose the amount of money or goods donated.
Lupita’s Grill, Wade Gordon Hairdressing Academy, Lemongrass Sushi & Wok and Chicken Express each donated a portion of their sales in the weeks after the deaths, and Fiesta Foods pledged to match all donations up to $2,500. Eight other businesses set up donation jars for the family, and benefit dinners were organized at Carril San Carlos and Gatti’s Pizza.
Amarillo gave.
Balderas said he and the family are still in recovery.
All are in therapy, and his wife now takes medication to prevent fluid from building up around her heart. She was the one hospitalized the longest, remaining for weeks in ICU at University Medical Center in Lubbock.
Neither she nor Balderas are working now, and that’s unlikely to change any time soon. Between driving his wife to medical appointments in Lubbock, counseling sessions and building the new house, Balderas says he’s too busy to take on any additional construction jobs.
Other hardships have recurred and remain.
No members of the public are allowed inside the Balderas’ house until an insurance company’s investigation concludes - although that didn’t stop burglars from breaking in and stealing electronics in early March.
And the Texas Department of Agriculture’s enforcement division continues to investigate whether use of the pesticide violated the Texas Administrative Code, Communications Officer Jennifer Dorsett said. The enforcement division’s recommendations will then be forwarded to TDA’s attorneys.
The Balderases continue to take it one day at a time.
Balderas drives by the house a few nights per week to check on things. The images in his head won’t disappear.
Right now, he’s focusing on rebuilding the family’s life by building them a new home.
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