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A distressing plea for help is circulating on the Internet to save the life of Michelle, a just four-year-old boy from Ciego de Ávila, who is in critical condition due to a blood infection and the deplorable conditions in which he lives with his mother and younger siblings.
According to a post by the user Minerva Sifonte on Facebook, the minor has not received the appropriate treatment: doctors are administering antibiotics, but a blood culture has never been conducted to determine the correct medication.
His health, he warns, is deteriorating rapidly.
"This child has no home and no food. Sometimes he spends the entire day with only a soda in his stomach because his mother has nothing to give him. He has two younger siblings and his mother is alone, without resources, with no one to help her," Minerva wrote alongside photos of the boy, who appears visibly malnourished and shows signs of neglect.
A childhood marked by poverty and neglect
Little Michelle lives in extremely vulnerable conditions. Her mother, who is raising three children on her own, does not have stable employment or fixed income.
The family does not have a permanent home: they take refuge for a few days in the houses of acquaintances or even sleep on the street or at bus stops.
The housing where they currently live is in deplorable conditions, with a dirt floor, humidity, and insect infestation, which has caused severe skin rashes on the child.
The situation is so alarming that the minor has already suffered a kidney failure due to the infection and malnutrition, and doctors have warned that another crisis could be fatal.
"Sometimes the mother has to go out to look for her other children, and the child is left alone in a crib all day," Sifonte added, who along with a friend has tried to provide food and medicine, although she admits they do not have the means to take full responsibility.
A plea from desperation
The activist Diasniurka Salcedo Verdecia shared the phone number 53 5 4127105, of Minerva Sifonte, and her own (786) 339, for those who wish to offer assistance with food, medicine, vitamins, diapers, clothing, or a dignified shelter.
"This is a heartfelt plea. Michelle needs a chance to live and recover. May God touch the compassionate hearts and allow this family to move forward," she wrote on Facebook.
The child's mother has not received institutional assistance. There is no social support, no health workers to accompany her, and no family doctor to ensure basic care.
Dozens of internet users expressed their outrage over this case.
"And what about the family doctor? What about medical power? What about prioritizing children and vulnerable sectors? I see these things and it makes my skin crawl!" commented a resident of Havana.
The human face of a deep health crisis
Michelle's case is a heartbreaking reflection of the collapse of the healthcare and social assistance system in Cuba.
Basic medications, antibiotics, laboratory reagents, and medical equipment are lacking in the country's hospitals.
Every day, thousands of families face similar situations amid a crisis that the government neither manages to resolve nor seems willing to address.
In Cuba, where for decades the regime has boasted of having "the best healthcare system in the world," sick children must survive thanks to the charity of other citizens.
The scarcity of food, the deterioration of hospitals, and the lack of essential medicines have turned treatable illnesses into death sentences.
Doctors and patients are reporting the lack of antibiotics, vitamins, serums, and reagents for basic tests like a blood culture, the very test that could save Michelle's life.
Meanwhile, the Cuban government remains silent.
In a country where the State presents itself as the guarantor of social welfare, the reality shows that it is the citizens themselves who must compensate for the complete absence of official protection.
Little Michelle not only needs urgent medical attention but also a safe home and basic food—something that in today's Cuba has become an unattainable privilege for thousands of families.
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