Jorge Reina, the father of the Cuban child Jorge Esteban Reina Llerena (Jorgito), who suffers from acute lymphoblastic leukemia and is waiting for the interview to emigrate to the United States, where he plans to undergo a bone marrow transplant, has launched a fundraising campaign to assist with the entire migratory, legal, and hospital process that his son will undergo if he is able to arrive in Miami, where Nicklaus Children Hospital has accepted his case.
In a moving post shared on the crowdfunding platform Give a Hand, Jorge Reina recalls that he had already submitted a tourist visa application so that his son could travel with his mother to the United States, but immigration authorities denied them authorization without any explanation on January 23, 2024. They have now resumed the process, applying for a humanitarian visa.
"I detail all this with tears in my eyes, for I still do not see the solution to having him here (in the U.S.) to give life to my Jorgito. There is nothing sadder than suffering while seeing my son's face in every video call and projecting his face that, despite so much innocence, always wears a smile as if nothing were happening to us today," writes the father in his post "A grain of sand to save the life of my son with leukemia, Jorgito," which since August 3 has raised nearly $7,000 of the $45,000 he hopes to collect. (To contribute, click here)
According to the child's father, he left Cuba when Jorgito was eight months old. He is now seven years old and has been fighting cancer for five years.
"My son, Jorge Esteban Reina Llerena, 7 years old, born in Cuba, is the protagonist of this sad story that continues to wait for the unique therapy that could save his life. When my son was just 8 months old, I left Cuba, a country I have not been able to set foot in again for reasons beyond my control. Anyway, a whole year passed, and amid everything that comes with being an immigrant, that January 2019 arrived, during which I received the saddest news that my son had been diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia."
From there, Jorge Reina explains, the chemotherapy treatments began along with efforts from Miami to send all the medications and even the medical instruments that the child needed at every moment.
But his son's health continued to deteriorate due to his immunodepression. There were also complications. "Sadly, my baby has suffered a relapse of the disease at the testicular level, which led to the removal of one of the testicles, again undergoing a surgical procedure, along with the monthly medical evaluations that were complemented by lumbar punctures and, on several occasions, bone marrow biopsies in search of disease proliferation or spread to other systems. This prompted a modification of the treatment, intensifying the therapy (chemotherapies), according to Cuban protocols with a much lower percentage of therapeutic success (40%), but always holding on to the faith of overcoming and waking up from this terrible nightmare that we began to live on that January 15, 2019," the father adds in the post shared on Give a Hand.
But despite the efforts, the child had a second relapse. "Despite the available options, my son showed a recurrence of the disease at the testicular level (the remaining testicle) for the second time, and we are told about the only option that would provide the highest rates, even though they are low (10%), of a cure, the allogeneic therapy (bone marrow transplant), which has not been performed in Cuba for a few years."
And understanding that the percentage of hope is low (10%), that hope exists, but not in Cuba. Hence the urgency to transfer the child to the United States as soon as possible.
"Today I do not present myself merely as the man drowning in his sad feelings, but as a desperate father who feels himself sinking into despair. We created this account to help cover part of the costs we are facing regarding immigration procedures and the treatment that my son would receive upon arriving in the U.S.," adds the father in Give a Hand, thanking any contributions as well as prayers that help Jorgito get out of Cuba and fight for his life.
What do you think?
COMMENTFiled under:
