The Cuban girl Ashley Manuela Echaide Mesa, whose family fought an arduous struggle with the Cuban authorities to obtain a humanitarian visa that would allow them to access a liver transplant, died this Sunday in Mexico after undergoing surgery.
"With deep sorrow we are dismayed, Ashley our little girl has died in Mexico after several days of transplanting. Our prayers and support go out to his mother Yaniris, his grandmother Caridad and his tireless human Angel Nelson Alvarez," reported Cuban activist Yankiel Fernandez in Facebook.
Dozens of Cubans have expressed dismay on the social network over the tragic outcome of the three-year-old girl, who began to deteriorate since April of last year and was still in Cuba in January.
Yanirys Mesa, the little girl's mother, had attacked the Ministry of Public Health last January for having promised to take the minor to Spain for surgery, something that had not happened until then.
This mother was desperate with her only daughter admitted to intensive care since April of last year, when Mesa began asking the Cuban regime to help obtain a humanitarian visa to any country where doctors could perform a liver transplant on the little girl.
For several years now, transplants have stopped being performed in Cuba as a result of the shortage of medicines and medical supplies on the island.
The Caribbean nation is experiencing a stampede of health professionals, emigrating to other countries and other work sectors on the island because they do not have the essential conditions to provide medical services and prefer to give up their professional careers.
Furthermore, there are no medical supplies, no drugs, nor modern technology in the treatment of diseases.
More and more patients are known to be left without a solution, because the country does not have enough resources to care for them. These cases always hurt, but especially when they involve children.
In recent weeks, a case similar to that of Echaide Mesa has emerged, that of the girl Amanda Lemus, who underwent a liver transplant in Spain thanks to the struggle of parents and Cuban civil society who challenged the authorities of the island.
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