Mia's Miracle: Maria and Camilo Villegas want their baby's death to leave a legacy of hope

Camilo and Maria Villegas lived through the devastation of their daughter, Mia, going from a healthy baby girl to enduring months of treatments and surgeries after tumors were found on her brain and spine.

After spending more than four months at the Nicklaus Children's Hospital in Miami, including 40 nights in intensive care, and undergoing five brain surgeries, Mia died July 26, 2020.

She was 22 months old.

For Maria and Camilo, it was agony. But through their grief, they found inspiration.

The Jupiter couple realized that those 163 days — from when Mia was diagnosed to the day her fight ended — they spent with Mia was special. And they knew that, while nothing could be worse for parents than to see their child suffer through an incurable disease, they were fortunate in a way so many other families are not.

Camilo, winner of five PGA Tour events, has earned about $23.5 million in prize money in his 20-year career, so the family could afford to spend whatever was needed to be with their daughter.

"We were able to witness what most families go through when their children are in the hospital," Maria said. "We were able to rent a nice house next to the hospital. We didn't have to worry about any of our bills. We had amazing support from our family and our friends.

"I know the pain of losing a child, and I know the pain of having a child in the hospital," she said. "But I don't know the pain of not having money to pay the bills. And I cannot imagine what that adds to the stress."

So the couple set out to help others who are dealing with life-altering situations while having financial burdens.

And they get to carry on Mia's legacy.

Camilo Villegas' Mia's Miracles helping families in need

Mia's death brought life to a foundation that has become the focus for Camilo and Maria. Mia's Miracles was born to provide support — financially and emotionally — to children and families facing challenging circumstances.

"As hard as it was emotionally, we could focus 100 percent on our daughter," Camilo, 42, said. "That's not the situation for most people. It's a complex world, it's a tough world. It's a world where people are very busy, have a million things to do.

"We just want to make it a little bit easier for those parents, for those nurses, for those kids, and bring smiles throughout their tough process."

Mia's Miracles has raised more than $2 million and is preparing for its first Mother's Day fundraiser. The Miles for Miracles Fun Run & Walk is Sunday, May 12, at North Palm Beach Country Club. Participants can choose between a one-, two-, or three-mile walk or run.

Linda Neary Robb, who knows Camilo through the cycling community, is helping organize the event.

"Maria and Camilo, their story of what they went through and what they did with their grief, turning it into action and creating this foundation that is helping so many other families, it really, really inspired me," Neary Robb said.

That foundation has paid for a family to fly from Colombia, Camilo's home country, to Miami during the holidays to be with their child, who was being treated for aggressive cancer. The parents had not seen their child for months because of visa issues. The foundation continues to provide financial assistance for uninsurable medical costs.

The foundation also provides four $2,000 grants per month for families around the country with a child being treated for brain cancer.

Jack and Barbara Nicklaus lend support

Early in 2020, Mia was experiencing mild symptoms Camilo and Maria believed were caused by teething. Those symptoms did not subside and when Mia started holding her head like it was hurting, they scheduled an MRI.

"The same day we called (Barbara) we were in Miami," Maria said.

The Nicklaus Children's Hospital was renamed from Miami Children's Hospital in 2015 after a pledge from Jack and Barbara, who live in North Palm Beach. The hospital offers world-renowned pediatric care for children of any age.

After the diagnosis, they knew the best care was needed. They reached out to golfing legend Jack Nicklaus and his wife Barbara. The Villegases were close with the Nicklauses before; now they were family.

Mia was hospitalized one week before the country went into lockdown because of COVID-19. The Villegases rented a house by the hospital to be close to Mia. Camilo and Maria then took turns driving to Jupiter, where they have lived for 17 years, to check on their home.

"She went from waking up and playing all day, being a child, to not understanding what was going on," Maria said. "But she was physically a very strong little girl. She would not complain."

What was going on was a steady stream of doctors and nurses in and out of her room. There were IV hookups. She was constantly being fed medication. She was having her temperature checked all day, every day.

"As children, they don't understand," Maria said. "They feel invaded."

The pandemic allowed Camilo to take a break from golf without missing as many events as he would in a normal year. The PGA Tour returned in June, but Camilo did not play from the Honda Classic in late February to the Safeway Open in mid-September.

Camilo, who describes himself as wanting to "control everything," realized during Mia's battle that the best way to live day to day is to control only the things you can control.

"Once I lived the Mia experience, I just assessed my reality," he said. "Good, average or bad we're going to have a little bit of everything in the journey of life. When you can assess your reality in certain moments, it kind of makes it that much easier to put the next foot in front of the other."

While Camilo could retreat to the fairways and range at the Bear's Club in Jupiter for his therapy, Maria found serenity at the beach. She always made time to visit Juno Beach during her trips home while Mia was in the hospital. And those walks, often accompanied by the Villegas' dog, Pixie, were part of her daily coping process after Mia's death.

"The beach is my healing place," she said. "I would just take all the energy from the ocean and the sands."

Golf helps Camilo Villegas heal

Camilo Villegas was a legend while growing up in Colombia, winning several National Junior Championships and being honored as the 1990s Player of the Decade by the Colombian Golf Federation.

He attended the University of Florida where he was part of the 2001 NCAA championship team while being named 2001 SEC Freshman of the Year. He was SEC Player of the Year in 2002 and 2004, and a four-time All-American.

By 2008, two years after earning his PGA Tour card, Villegas rose to No. 7 in the world with two wins and 10 top 25s. That year he earned more than $4.7 million in prize money, seventh on the money list.

The first four names on that list: Vijay Singh, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia.

Villegas' last win before Mia's diagnosis was the 2014 Wyndham Championship (he previously won the 2010 Honda Classic). From 2012 through the 2019-20 season, he had just five top 10s. Then came a resurgence that peaked with his first win in nine years — and first since Mia's death — at the 2023 Bermuda Championship, which qualified him for this year's Masters and PGA Championship, which starts Thursday at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville.

"Everything was very fresh and controlling our minds is easier said than done," Camilo said. "Controlling our emotions is easier said than done. There was a lot of emotions. There were a lot of mixed feelings. There was a lot of grieving.

"But it was nice to have golf right there for me to come back to. But I was still dealing with my grieving … how to handle this. There were weeks it was kind of smooth. There were weeks it was bumpy."

Despite suffering a back injury early in the week, Villegas had his best week of this season at The Masters, breaking a string of three consecutive missed cuts and finishing tied for 35th with a 6-over 294. He shot 69 on Sunday.

"I told him you need golf," Maria said. "Camilo is a very, very active person. He needs to be doing stuff, he needs to have a goal, he needs to have a purpose.

"His work has been his greatest healer because he's focused on his work. He has a purpose. He has something that takes him away from our grief in a way."

Camilo, who made his 400th PGA Tour start May 2 at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson in Dallas, cited support he received from the golf community as a big part of his healing process, especially from Jupiter neighbor and fellow PGA Tour player Luke Donald and his wife, Diane Antonopoulos.

Maria Villegas made a promise to her daughter

Maria made a promise to Mia when they were in the hospital that they would help as many children and families as possible.

"At the end, I understood her miracle was to free herself from the pain," Maria said, becoming emotional. "Her legacy, that's my mission now."

Maria prayed for a miracle those four-plus months Mia was fighting, but she believes her daughter now is in a better place. "Her spirit was free from her physical body," Maria said.

That miracle occurred 17 months later when the Villegas' second child arrived. Mateo Villegas was born Dec. 13, 2021.

The name was chosen because of its meaning: Mateo is Spanish for Matthew, a Hebrew name meaning "gift of God."

"Any child being born is a miracle," Maria said. "I see life itself as a miracle. Mateo coming to our life is a miracle. It's life. It's joy."

She also saw Mateo's birth as a sign.

Mateo was born at 7:56 a.m. Mia was born at 7:56 p.m.

"Mia sends me little messages from time to time," Maria said. "This was one of them. I believe that to be a sign from Mia that she was there with us that moment.

"So, I knew everything was going to be OK.”

Miles for Miracles fundraiser

Mia's Miracles fundraiser, Miles for Miracles Fun Run & Walk is Mother's Day, May 12, at the North Palm Beach Country Club. Registration fee to walk or run one, two or three miles is $40. The Kids Dash is free. All proceeds go toward Mia's Miracles and bringing financial and emotional support to children and families facing challenging circumstances.

Tom D'Angelo is a senior sports columnist and golf writer for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at tdangelo@pbpost.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: PGA Tour's Camilo Villegas' Mia's Miracles honors daughter who died