Young Cuban with elephantiasis asks for help to have surgery in Spain

The young Cuban Dayan Sotolongo, who suffers from elephantiasis in both legs, is asking for help to buy two tickets - for himself and his sister - to travel to Spain, where he will receive treatment.

Dayan is a 19-year-old boy from Pinar del Río who can barely walk and suffers severe pain due to fourth-grade lymphedema in his extremities.

"Please, I need you to share, everyone you can share so I can raise the money for my ticket to Spain so I can go for surgery. 50781272, that's my number. Anyone who can help me, please write to me," he said in Facebook.

His case moved the comedian Andy Vázquez, who this afternoon did a live show to raise money.

Andy described the problems Dayan has suffered in Cuba, where The doctors told him that they have no solution..

"He already has everything to travel to Spain; a doctor or a hospital has already taken charge and told him that they are going to operate on him, he only has to pay for the tickets. They are two orphans, they have neither a father nor a mother, they live alone. The sister has taken it upon herself to help her little brother, of course," he explained.

"The only thing he needs to be able to go to Spain is the money for the ticket. As you can see his legs, He has to go in first class because he can't fit in a regular seat.. The first-class ticket is worth $1,700 (average) and his sister's is $800. It would be a total of $2,500," he explained.

Andy noted that he will raise the money himself in his private account. To do this, he asked them to contact the number +1 786-697-6201. He will respond and tell them where they can send donations.

In less than an hour of starting the direct, The comedian managed to raise almost 1,000 dollars.

In February, Dayan Sotolongo requested a humanitarian visa because in the Cuban health system, which he attended for seven years, they did not even give him relief for his illness. However, there are hospitals in the United States and Spain that showed willingness to study his case and provide care.

The boy does not have an accurate diagnosis and therefore does not receive medical treatment. This abandoned to his fate in a fourth floor apartment, in Santa Lucía, Minas de Matahambre municipality.

Dayan's mother died of a heart attack when he was five years old and the family went to live in Guantánamo for a time. There he began to suffer the effects of lymphedema when he was 12 years old.

Added to his complex health situation and the absence of his mother was the pain of his father's death a year and a half ago due to kidney problems.

"My sister (Dayanis Sotolongo) and I were orphaned. We live here in Santa Lucía, alone. The government pays me 1,500 pesos for my social assistance checkbook. They have never given me anything else," he commented.

Dayan decided to bring his case to light on social networks to ask for help.

"After I uploaded the video telling my story, people from the Cuban Communist Party and doctors came to visit me, people I had never met before. They said they were going to start helping me. and the days go by but until now I haven't seen anything," said the young man.