Cuban mother requests expedited procedures to emigrate with her child with cancer to the U.S.

Arlety Llerena Martínez is a 33-year-old Cuban mother living in Guanabacoa (Havana), who is asking for her interview appointment to be expedited so she can emigrate as soon as possible with her son, Jorge Esteban Reina Llerena, who is sick with cancer, to the United States, where the child's father has been living for nearly four years.

The father has not been able to travel to Cuba during all this time, but he keeps in touch with him through video calls. The family received the confirmation from the doctors treating Jorge Esteban with much disappointment that in Cuba, everything possible has already been done and there is nothing that can be done for his life at this moment.

But that doesn't mean there is no hope. At the hospital where they are treating the child, they have also said that the only solution is to perform a bone marrow transplant, but that there are no "conditions" to carry it out in Cuba.

After receiving this information, it is easy to understand this Cuban mother's urgency to obtain the travel permit to the United States as soon as possible, where they already have a hospital center ready to take on the child's treatment.

This would be the second interview that Arlety Llerena is attending with her son because she already went to another one when they applied for a tourist visa and it was denied, despite her explaining the difficult situation she is facing with her son.

According to what this mother explained in an interview with CiberCuba, it's not that the child has no other options in Cuba, but that being immunocompromised makes it complicated to treat any other illness he contracts because they start treatment with an antibiotic and within three days that medication is no longer available, and they have to switch to another one. Additionally, she is afraid that he might get infected with Oropouche, dengue, or another epidemic that proliferates on the Island.

The little Jorge Esteban, who is only seven years old, has been fighting leukemia for five years. He cannot play with other children, he cannot be in the sun, he gets inflamed, receives chemotherapy and other treatments, but not all of them agree with him because of the hygiene issues in Cuban hospitals he has rejected some of them.

Ultimately, the family is desperate. Their son's life depends on the immigration authorities.