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The story of Nicole Casellas, a three-year-old Cuban girl facing aggressive pediatric cancer, has touched the Miami community and thousands of people both inside and outside the United States.
Her mother, Leydis Fernández, is seeking help to maintain their home and continue her daughter's expensive medical treatment.
According to El Nuevo Herald, the minor was diagnosed with metastatic neuroblastoma, a type of cancer that originates in nerve cells and can spread to vital organs.
Nicole, who currently lives in Miami with her mother but previously resided in Kentucky, has received 15 cycles of chemotherapy, 20 sessions of radiation, 18 immunotherapies, 23 blood transfusions, and a bone marrow transplant since January 2024.
Fernández, who arrived from Cuba two years ago in search of better opportunities, worked as a medical assistant until she had to leave her job to take care of her daughter full-time.
"I only wish for her to be healthy and happy, that God heals her completely and frees her from this cancer," said the mother in statements reported by the American media.
The little girl was treated at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Miami, where doctors confirmed the presence of a tumor in her abdomen and metastasis in her arms, legs, chest, and liver.
The long-term prognosis remains uncertain due to the aggressiveness of the cancer and prolonged exposure to highly toxic treatments.
The case of Nicole is part of the Wish Book program, an annual campaign by the Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald that gathers stories of families in need of support during the holiday season.
On this occasion, the mother sought help to cover the rent for her home in the Westchester area and to ensure a Christmas dinner for both of them.
On the platform GoFundMe, Fernández shared her story and explained that she is facing this battle alone: “I came to this country with the hope of getting ahead, like every immigrant. My daughter turned 23 months old when we received the worst news: she has neuroblastoma. I am trying to be strong because she needs me.”
Fernández also thanked the support of friends and family in Miami, while a large part of his family remains in Cuba.
“I won't be able to work for an indefinite period of time, and I turn to this platform to ask for prayers for my princess and, if possible, for your help,” he wrote in the post.
Nicole continues her treatment and, according to her mother, is showing slow but positive progress.
The Cuban community in South Florida has begun to share the campaign and send donations to help the family get through this tough time.
Leydis Fernández's struggle to save her daughter Nicole in Miami reflects a reality that connects many Cuban mothers, both on the island and abroad: the unwavering commitment to protect their ailing children, even amidst uncertainty, scarcity, or exile.
While Fernández leaves her job to care for Nicole and seeks public assistance in the United States, in Cuba other mothers face similar challenges.
Recently, a mother in Santiago de Cuba reported that she has been waiting for more than two years for a decent home in order to properly raise her daughter, who has a serious illness.
Also from the island, desperate voices have been raised, such as that of a mother of a girl with leukemia, who implored for a humanitarian visa so that her daughter could receive treatment abroad.
Although hopes remain alive, they often encounter bureaucratic decisions that deny those requests, as in the case of another minor to whom the United States denied humanitarian visa despite her delicate oncological condition.
Anywhere in the world, history repeats itself: Cuban mothers doing the impossible to save their children.
Whether managing paperwork, denouncing injustices, knocking on doors, or sharing campaigns on social media, all of them stand as a testament to a common strength that endures pain, borders, and institutional neglect.
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