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Yanisbel Cera Lazo is Cuban and was one of the victims of the attack on Las Ramblas in Barcelona on August 17 of last year, when a van ran over hundreds of people, resulting in a total of 16 dead and 131 injured.
Younes Abouyaaqoub, the perpetrator, traveled 530 meters along the central section of the promenade, from Buen Suceso street to Miró pavement, in front of the Boquería Market. Right there, Yanisbel was entering with her two children, her sister, and her niece. She was one of the last people hit by the vehicle.
Almost a year after the attack, Yanisbel says she has gone through the worst time of her life. She was in a coma for five days. "I feel terrified to go out on the street. I think something is going to happen," she told the Spanish newspaper El Periódico.
This 36-year-old woman rarely goes outside. "I don't want to pass that fear onto the children," she says, explaining that the noise overwhelms her. She suffered a stroke and bruises all over her body.
"Sometimes when I talk, I draw a blank... Unintentionally, I've been remembering the attack for a year. I will never forget it. My son avoids the topic. He was fully aware the entire time. One day I asked him how he felt. He told me, 'All I wanted at that moment was to see you get up off the ground,'" she recalls.
How did Yamilet get to Las Ramblas?
Yamilet married Esteban Navarro, a 53-year-old Catalan, with whom she has two children aged 12 and 14. In 2016, they moved to Coma-ruga, where her husband runs a bicycle and motorcycle rental business.
Her sister had come to visit her with her niece, and they decided to travel to Barcelona and take a little walk around the city.
The only thing he remembers from that moment is when he entered La Boquería. Days later, he woke up in a hospital. "My sister and my children told me what happened."
"My sister stayed with the injured children. The boy with the burned face and the girl unconscious on the ground. It was terrible for her. She didn't know anything or anyone... My life has turned upside down in every way," she explains.
Esteban learned the news from the television. When he heard about the attack, he called his family, but no one answered, until his sister-in-law explained to him what had happened.
Esteban's life has also changed. He has been helping his wife and children all this time. “The Generalitat has done nothing, and the Ministry of the Interior helped him at first, but he has had to handle all the bureaucratic procedures, which are numerous and cumbersome,” the report states.
"Life changes because 75% of your family has changed. We used to go to the movies, go out to eat, take walks. We can no longer do any of that. However, we have received support from the people. From the City Council of Barcelona, we only received an invitation to visit."
In the attack in Barcelona, five Cubans were injured. Authorities detailed at that moment that among the victims there were 20 foreign nationals from France, Argentina, Venezuela, Germany, Belgium, Peru, Romania, Ireland, Greece, Macedonia, Great Britain, Austria, Pakistan, Taiwan, Canada, Ecuador, the United States, the Philippines, Turkey, China, and Kuwait.
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