( CNN ) -- Eighteen-year-old Juan Gonzalez was dying alone in a hospital , thousand of miles from his Guatemalan home . He was separated from the family he had traveled to the United States to help support . Juan Gonzalez was earning $ 250 a week as a dishwasher when his heart trouble began . Diagnosed with a chronically weak heart , without much money and lacking resources , Gonzalez seemed bound to die without ever seeing his parents again . That changed after CNN aired a story about his plight . Thanks to the help of a compassionate hospital staff , a U.S. congressman and a concerned community , Gonzalez has been reunited with his parents for what may be the last time . Watch Gonzalez make his tearful plea » . Like many undocumented workers , Gonzalez came to the United States last fall to provide some financial help for his family , who had fallen on hard times back in Guatemala . He took a job as a dishwasher in Rome , Georgia , making about $ 250 a week . Then , in November , his heart gave out . Gonzalez has been in and out of the hospital for seven months . Doctors diagnosed Gonzalez with dilated cardiomyopathy , which means his heart muscle is very weak . Dr. Frank Stegall , Gonzalez 's cardiologist , said the Guatemalan teen 's heart pumps only 20 percent of the blood a healthy heart should . But as Gonzalez 's heart failed him , he opened up the hearts of others . Stegall and the staff at Rome 's Redmond Regional Medical Center were inspired by Gonzalez 's attitude and courage and set out to reunite the dying teen with his parents . They contacted U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey , R-Georgia . Gingrey got the State Department involved in expediting visas for Pascual and Maria Gonzalez , Juan 's parents . Delta Air Lines donated tickets to Atlanta , and the Gonzalezes boarded a plane for the first time , bound for Georgia to see their dying son . Watch the family reunion » . Gonzalez has vowed to fight to the end , but doctors say his prognosis is n't good . With no money , Stegall says , it will be tough for the teen to get a heart transplant . Now , after traveling thousands of miles for more than two weeks to make a better life for his family and himself , Gonzalez faces his final fight , but it 's one he will face with his family , thanks to the kindness of others .
Undocumented immigrant went to Georgia to make money for family . He has an extremely weak heart muscle ; doctors give poor prognosis . Lawmaker got visas for parents ; Delta donated plane tickets .