Woman from Fort Worth suburb, stuck in Peru, says she’s desperate to return home
Sandra McIntosh, who has never traveled outside the United States, thought she would have the adventure of a lifetime when she volunteered to work at a women’s shelter and learn Spanish in Peru.
Her once in a lifetime opportunity suddenly turned into a desperate effort to leave Peru and return to her family in Colleyville.
“The hardships this has placed on all of us are indescribable,” McIntosh said.
McIntosh said she left Texas on Feb. 24 when reports described the coronavirus as being mostly in China. She first went to Ecuador and on to Cusco, Peru, where she planned to start her volunteer work.
Then on March 13, she saw that the virus was spreading rapidly in the United States, and she contacted her airline and learned that it would cost $600 to change her flight to return home earlier.
McIntosh said the organization coordinating her volunteer work would not give her a refund because “fear of the coronavirus” was not in the insurance policy.
Then, on Sunday night, things went from bad to worse when the Peruvian government declared a state of emergency, which included closing the borders and grounding transportation.
According to the U.S. Embassy website, the country is under a 14-day quarantine, meaning that people can only go out for groceries, medical emergencies or to help the elderly. The website also says that, as of March 18, there were 145 coronavirus cases and 13 people were hospitalized.
McIntosh is among an estimated 1,400 Americans stuck in Peru because of the coronavirus crisis, according to an article from The Hill. The article also stated that during a press conference Thursday, President Donald Trump said the military is “working on getting the Americans out of Peru.
On Monday, McIntosh went to the airport in Cusco, but police wouldn’t let her inside the gate because she did not have a ticket to fly that day.
“I don’t know if I’m going to be here for two weeks or into May,” she said.
McIntosh said she was lucky to find a hotel with a restaurant because it is difficult to buy groceries.
Right now, she is spending her time monitoring social media sites for the latest news on Americans and their progress to leave the country.
“Unless Trump does something, we’re not leaving,” she said. “I am alone. I have no one to talk to.”
This story was originally published March 20, 2020 at 4:05 PM.