This is in conversation from Apple News. I'm Shemeitad Sue. Today, what one of the most

dangerous paths to America really looks like.

Last December, a Venezuelan couple and their two children, ages two and eight, set out to travel to the United States on foot.

The night before they were about to enter the jungle, the father, Bircon, started having

second thoughts.

Bircon was pacing and questioning himself, you know, what if this happens, what if one of the children

has bit by a snake, what if one of them gets a fever?

Bircon and his family were about to cross the Darien gap, one of the most

dangerous migration routes in the world. It begins in Colombia and stretches

about 70 miles north into Panama. It's the only way to get from south to

Central America by land and it cuts through dense jungle, rocky climbs and rushing rivers.

On their first day of the trek, the family struggled.

Bircon was carrying his two-year-old son on his shoulders.

He was shaking from both exhaustion and fear I think. I mean at

one point his face was almost purple in color and you know we thought a number of times that he might have a

real medical emergency I mean people have heart attacks and die from over exertion

in the Darien gap and the kids were struggling too.

At one point the toddler fell asleep and wouldn't wake up.

And the family was trying for quite a while to try to get him to wake up and he was unresponsive. He probably had heat

exhaustion and everybody was getting really nervous. Eventually they were able to

wake him and give him a little water, but this was just one of many harrowing moments on their journey.

Everybody was operating on very little food, water, and rest, to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

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