A Texas family already facing its share of adversity woke up Nov. 4 to find that their U-Haul holding all their belongings was stolen from the parking lot of the hotel outside Albuquerque where they were staying.
“It seems like this year has just been a huge year of bad luck for us,” Brittany Williams told KRQE.
Brittany, her husband, Mike, and their 2-year-old daughter Audrey had been stuck in California since December while Audrey was being treated for a heart condition.
“She was actually born six weeks premature, so she was born with some health issues,” Brittany Williams said.
Audrey became ill during a visit with family and spent two months in an Orange County Hospital.
“It started with a cold, turned into RSV, and then they ended up finding out something called a PDA valve in her heart,” Brittany Williams said. “Usually it’s supposed to close off when they’re born, and it never closed. That opened valve caused Audrey’s heart to swell, and it started to crush her left lung. Basically, they told us it’s not safe for her to travel or move.”
The family lived in California for the past 11 months while Audrey recovered.
”We’ve just been out there just taking care of her medical things and getting her to a point where she was safe to travel,” Williams said.
Doctors gave Audrey the OK to travel and the family rented the U-Haul for the trip home. Their first stop on the nearly 24-hour drive was outside Albuquerque at the Route 66 Casino Hotel.
“We actually stopped there when we first moved out here [Texas], and we trusted it and it was completely safe,” Williams said.
It wasn’t so safe this time. When they woke up Nov. 4, their U-Haul and everything inside was gone.
“We just thought, ‘Why? Why?’ This was our huge break to finally get us home and then that happens,” Williams said.
An estimated $20,000 was stolen, including Audrey’s medical supplies. “I couldn’t process it at first,” Williams said.
They’re back home in Texas, forced to replace what was stolen.
“We were able to run around, try to get some clothes for at least me and her,” Brittany Williams said. “We only had the clothes off our backs.”
Audrey has one surgery remaining. Afterward, the Williamses to focus on giving her a normal childhood. For individuals that would like to donate to the family's cause, a family member has started a GoFundMe page.