March 27, 1992

RELATIVE: 'IT'S BIGGER THAN THEY CAN HANDLE'

PAMELA FERDINAND Herald Staff Writer

Even when tiny Theresa was still in her womb, Laura Campo was concerned about other children who could benefit from the baby's organs, her sister said Thursday.

"Laura said, 'I have to eat for the baby to be healthy, I have to take care of her for somebody else' " Donna Bertrand said. "She found it really hard, but she kept going."

Once Theresa was born, Campo and Justin Pearson explained tenderly to their children that the baby was small and very ill. The couple have two healthy children together: Ashley, 3, Justin, 4. From a previous marriage Campo has another son, Sammy, 13.

Campo, who moved to South Florida nine years ago, is being comforted by a close-knit family. Her mother, Susan Clark, lives in Coral Springs in a separate apartment downstairs from Campo, while two of her three sisters live nearby. A third sister lives in Rhode Island.

Clark hovered over granddaughter Theresa at Broward General Medical Center earlier this week and contemplated the financial strains posed by her daughter's troubled pregnancy.

"Their finances are right down to the wire," she said. "They're making their rent, they're making their grocery bills, but they're caught between their insurance and their paychecks on this.

"They're caught in the middle of this, and it's a lot bigger than they can handle."

For more than five years, Campo, 30, has worked as a waitress at The Feedbag restaurant. Pearson, also 30, is a cement worker with Area Paving and Excavating.

"Laura works when she has to work and laughs and jokes with the customers," said her boss, Paul Catsicas. He said customers had been calling all night with prayers and best wishes for the couple. "I don't think there's anyone who doesn't like her. She's just that kind of person, and Justin's a nice, quiet guy."

Bertrand said Pearson is "like a rock to lean on, he's really been a great emotional support for her. They discuss things on an open level. They don't keep their feelings inside and get too distraught over it."

This experience will change their lives forever, she said.
From now on, both Campo and Pearson are "bound and determined" to change the law for future babies.

"Their hearts are in the right place."