The two-year-old Cuban girl Ester Lianet Asprón Rey, who suffers from hydrocephalus and is in critical condition at the Pediatric Hospital of Las Tunas, urgently needs a valve that would save her life.
A campaign launched on social media by activist Nelson Álvarez - known as "El Porfiao" - seeks the collaboration of individuals to raise monetary funds in order to acquire the low-pressure self-regulating valve that the patient needs outside of Cuba.
Álvarez shared on Facebook a video of the girl's father, who pleaded for the help that would make it possible to save his little daughter to be provided as soon as possible.
"She urgently needs a low self-regulating pressure valve (...) Please, my little girl depends on that valve for her life. It's the life of a two-year-old girl, and we are pleading and asking for help for that girl. Please, help us," the father pleaded through tears.
In several posts on social media in recent days, El Porfiao has reiterated the request for humanitarian aid.
"Every passing minute is against us, little Esther remains in critical condition admitted to the Pediatric Hospital of Las Tunas due to hydrocephalus; the little one has gone into surgery several times," she wrote this Monday, and specified that now "she urgently needs a self-regulating low-pressure shunt."
"Friends, it is our duty to make every last effort to save the girl's life. We are taking all the steps to have her (the probe) sent from abroad, which is why we are raising funds," he explained in the post.
"It is essential to locate that valve in the United States or in any other country from where it can be sent to us as soon as possible. We are raising funds for this purpose. Everyone who can help us will be blessed by God, not by us," he said in another post this Monday on social media.
People can make donations to the bank accounts (CUP-9205959879504109 and MLC-9235959873600758) or through the GoFundMe platform.
Hydrocephalus is a condition that affects patients who cannot regulate the flow of cerebrospinal fluid - produced by the ventricular system - through the natural pathways of their own body.
Medical literature warns that, in a person with hydrocephalus, cerebrospinal fluid is not normally absorbed by the body's venous system, but instead accumulates in the brain's ventricles. "If left untreated, the increasing volume of fluid raises the patient's intracranial pressure and can lead to serious medical conditions, such as compression of brain tissue and altered blood flow to the brain."
The Cuban healthcare system, immersed in a deep and prolonged crisis, does not guarantee the basic medications and supplies that patients in the country's hospitals need, such as valves for hydrocephalus. As a result, requests for help from family members and activists to acquire them from abroad and assist in saving the lives of these individuals, especially children, are frequent on social media.
The Cuban government has acknowledged the crisis in the healthcare system and the shortage of medicines and supplies, which particularly affects patients with chronic illnesses. The complaints from mothers and fathers about the difficulties in protecting their sick children highlight the state’s inefficiency in ensuring the health of the island's population.
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