The ambulance was moving along a road in the department of Cauca while the fighting was still not over. Inside the vehicle, Lieutenant Sandy Mariottiz Acuña, a military female doctor of Colombian National Army, was trying to get to an area where several injured soldiers were waiting to be urgently assisted and evacuated. However, there was one thought that she couldn't get out of her mind, her one and a half years old daughter.
It all started with a military unit under attack where several soldiers had been wounded. The information was not accurate and the exact number of people affected and the severity of their injuries were not known. The only certainty was that the combat was still ongoing, which prevented an air evacuation. The only option was to enter by land, even if that meant exposing to an attack.
Lieutenant Mariottiz and her team boarded the ambulance and began the journey to the municipality of Morales, department of Cauca, a high-risk area. During the journey the soldiers pointed out to her that it was a dangerous route, where they could be ambushed at any time. However, beyond the risk of the military operation, there was one constant thought occupying her mind, "Never to see my daughter again."
The image was clear and persistent. Her baby in her arms, she nursing her baby, clinging to her in an everyday scene that at that moment had gained an immense value. Upon arriving at the point, Lieutenant Mariottiz provided initial care, stabilized the patients and coordinated their transfer to a more specialized medical center in Popayan.
The patient is always the priority, doing everything possible to keep him alive. Years after that operation, in an improvised encounter within the Health Battalion, a sergeant approached her and said, "You took me out of the area of operations." In that instant, everything made sense. Knowing that this soldier was alive, that she had been able to return him to his family, became the greatest reward.
However, the story of Lieutenant Mariottiz continues at home, where she faces another reality, just as demanding. Her daughter, now a little older, has begun to ask questions that do not always have easy answers, "Mom, why didn't you come to sleep?".
Absence becomes a part of everyday life. The extensive activities and responsibilities of the operation mean that a military cannot be present at several occasions. Faced with this, the lieutenant has found a way to explain her work from love, she looks into her daughter’s eyes and tells her that she is helping others. That there are soldiers who need to be healed and that is her duty.
That duality, between duty and family, defines her life. Being a mother, a doctor and a soldier are not separate roles, they are dimensions that coexist in every decision she makes. Behind the uniform is a woman who faces risks and makes personal sacrifices.
Her story is in the same way crossed by the family that supports her. Her mother, who is facing a hard battle with cancer, is part of that environment that drives her to continue. Thanks to the institutional support, she has been able to be close to her mother in Bogotá, accompanying her through a difficult process that requires emotional strength.
Stories like this of Lieutenant Sandy Mariottiz Acuña reveal a more human dimension of Colombian National Army. It is not only about operations and results, but in the same way about lives, like that of a mother who works to preserve life with her heart divided between duty and love.
Source: National Army News Agency
