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A Cuban mother requested help to return home with her son who has cerebral palsy after six months of being hospitalized.
“I want to share my desperation, I am Aylema, the mother of Taylor, a 10-year-old boy with cerebral palsy. We have been in the pediatric intensive care unit (in Havana) for ‘6 months’,” this desperate mother began saying in a Facebook post.
The child cannot breathe without a ventilator for assisted respiration that the mother would need to take him home.
"At this moment, he is in stable chronic condition. My desperation is that I want to bring him home, since it is possible to have him at home, but there are many things I need, and that’s why I’m turning to you, as with the necessary equipment, I could have him at home," she explained.
This Cuban needs 1 pediatric ventilator for artificial respiration with assisted breathing, 1 rechargeable suction machine, 1 power generator for the air conditioning, an anti-decubitus mattress, and #6 cannulas without cuff for tracheostomy.
"I know it's a lot that I need to be able to bring it home, which is why I'm making my desperation public. I hope this post touches hearts, and if possible, any help would be appreciated. This is my #+5353428156, my name is AYLEMA ZARAGOZA, a desperate mother asking for help. THANK YOU SO MUCH from CUBA," she concluded.
The case of this mother and her son is a heartbreaking reflection of the collapse of the health and social assistance system in Cuba. Every day, thousands of families face similar situations, amidst a crisis that the government cannot -nor seems to want to- resolve.
In Cuba, where for decades the regime has boasted of having "the best healthcare system in the world," sick children must rely on the charity of other citizens to survive.
Recently, the case of Michelle emerged, a four-year-old child residing in Ciego de Ávila, who is in critical condition due to a bacteria in the blood 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: the doctors are administering antibiotics, but a blood culture has never been conducted to determine the correct medication.
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