SAN ANTONIO – Bethlie Paul, who was pulled from the rubble of a 2010 earthquake in Haiti and later brought to San Antonio to recover, has died following complications of a long-term health condition. She was 25 years old.
KSAT chronicled Paul’s journey from Haiti to San Antonio. Upon arriving in San Antonio, she and her sister spent two months at Christus Santa Rosa Hospital, now Christus Children’s Hospital.
>> An earthquake, a family, and a stamp
Paul later lived with former KSAT anchor Steve Spriester and his family. The then 10-year-old girl and her sister underwent numerous surgeries during their recovery in San Antonio.
During her recovery, Paul was diagnosed with the autoimmune disease Lupus. The diagnosis allowed Paul’s mother to receive humanitarian parole and later resident alien status to be in the U.S. while her daughter received treatment.
After two years of recovery and nearly losing a leg, Paul was not only able to walk again. She was running.
“It’s hard to believe that Bethlie’s leg is fully healed,” Spriester wrote in 2012. “She even ran a 5K last month with our school’s Girls on the Run/Girls on Track team.”
Although she was living in Texas, Paul still thought of Haiti and how she could help those recover. In 2016, she led an effort to raise money to help children in Haiti have the supplies they need to learn.
“I get to go help the school, and I get to go help build it up again,” Paul told KSAT in 2016. “I just get to change somebody else’s life.”
Through more than a decade living in the United States, Paul grew into a woman full of spirit and adventure. After high school, she spent time working as a flight attendant. She later spent time at San Antonio College and the University of Texas at San Antonio, where she studied psychology.
In 2022, Paul took another major step in her life: becoming a U.S. citizen.
“I am Bethlie. I am Haitian. I am American. I am silly. I am corny. I am someone who absolutely loves other people,” Paul said in 2022.
Paul died on Oct. 12, surrounded by friends and family.
“She overcame so much in her young life and never complained,” Spriester said. “I will carry that memory of her determination to face challenges head-on and her brilliant smile with me always.”
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