UTEP student Bella Marin overcomes serious health issues to graduate Summa Cum Laude

Thousands of students will walk across the stage during the University of Texas at El Paso’s commencement ceremonies on Saturday.

It is a major accomplishment for all, but an exceptional achievement for Bella Marin, who is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in psychology.

“I know that my parents are going to cry at the ceremony,” Bella told ABC-7. “They’re very proud of me, and they really understand how much of a struggle and a challenge it’s been for me.”

Bella has vascular Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, or vEDS. According to the Ehlers-Danlos Society website, VEDS is a life-threatening connective tissue disorder that affects all tissues, arteries and internal organs, making them extremely fragile. Patients are at risk of spontaneous arterial or organ rupture. The arteries could also dissect, which is the main cause of death. The incurable and rare genetic syndrome leaves Bella susceptible to major injuries through normal activities.

She is the only person in El Paso to be diagnosed with vEDS.

“The best I can do is try to manage my symptoms,” Bella said. There is no medication to cure or prevent the complications associated with vEDS.

“A lot of times people look at me and say,’Oh, you look well,'” Bella said. “I don’t look sick, so they don’t understand what’s going on inside my body. I can barely understand because it’s such a rare condition.”

The past year has proved more challenging for Bella, 22. She tore a muscle in her lower left leg while dancing and has had to wear a cast ever since.

“I’ve had a hard time getting to my classes because (when) I use crutches it pops the blood vessels in my hands,” Bella said. “I have friends wheel me around, so I’ve become very dependent.”

Bella’s mother, Frances, admitted to ABC-7 that she has daily stress knowing that any physical activity her daughter takes on carries a risk.

“It’s hard. I live everyday thanking God that he let her live another day,” Frances said.

Since Bella was diagnosed with VEDS at the age of 10 in 2004, Frances said she has become her daughter’s main advocate, educating herself on vEDS so she can inform the doctors and nurses who may not be familiar with the disorder or the risks it poses.

“She had a bowel obstruction in 2012, which was her first year at UTEP,” Frances said. VEDS causes the bowels to be susceptible to rupture. “We went to the ER and they were ready to send her back home. She would have died,” she added. Surgery tends to be a last-resort option for those with vEDS due to the high risk of damage to the organs.

The bowel obstruction kept Bella in the hospital for weeks, forcing her to miss almost a month of school. Her condition also causes chronic fatigue, which she constantly battles to attend class and complete homework.

“A good metaphor I use is, it’s like climbing the mountains,” Bella said. “Looking at them everyday is just a reminder of the struggle I have to sometimes even just get out of bed.”

But Bella didn’t stop pushing herself. She will receive her Bachelor of Science in Psychology summa cum laude, the highest distinction of achievement, and was chosen as the College of Liberal Arts’ banner bearer, leading the college’s graduates into the Don Haskins Center Saturday morning.

When she heard about her daughter’s commencement distinctions, Frances cried. “Her dream was always to be successful at school. And she accomplished that dream,” she said.

“My condition is so limiting, I try not to let it stop me from living my life,” Bella said. “So, things that I can do — or at least try my best to do — I want to accomplish.”

Bella plans to attend nursing school. She said she wants to help others the way so many in the medical community have cared for her.