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The family of Ashlin Naara Perdomo Núñez, the girl from Matanzas whose delicate neurological condition became known in 2020, is once again facing an extreme situation.
Her mother, Yeni Núñez Jerez, made a desperate plea for help in the Facebook group "We Are All Ashlin" to obtain essential medications that the little girl urgently needs while she battles a worsening condition caused by chikungunya.
Núñez explained that the girl has had abundant phlegm and difficulty breathing for four months, and that two months ago she began to show symptoms associated with chikungunya. Although she seemed to improve, this weekend the fever returned, accompanied by severe body aches.
The mother's request reflects the reality faced by thousands of Cuban families: not even the most basic medications are available.
To stabilize your daughter, you only need rehydration salts or Pedialyte, Albuterol, Acetylcysteine or Ambroxol, and Clonazepam. Common medications in any country, but in Cuba, they are practically impossible to obtain.
"I know that almost everything is extinct here, but please, anyone who has any of these medications that Ashlin needs, contact me at 53-58664462," Yen wrote.
He expressed gratitude, as always, for the solidarity that has allowed him to keep his daughter alive for years.
A girl who fights on two fronts: her illness and a system unable to care for her
The case of Ashlin is not new. Her story came to light in 2020, when her mother requested a humanitarian visa to travel to the United States, as there was no technology in Cuba to diagnose her.
The girl began showing symptoms of Krabbe disease at the age of four, an extremely rare neurodegenerative condition for which the only treatment is a stem cell transplant, a procedure that is not performed on the Island.
After their arrival in Miami, they remained under medical care for ten months. There, it was confirmed that it was an incurable disease with a very short life expectancy.
Despite the setback, Núñez decided to continue seeking alternatives to improve her daughter's quality of life, and even has explored new treatment options before an eventual return to Florida.
Over time, the family returned to Cuba, where the mother continued to make appeals for help in obtaining essential medications that the healthcare system could not provide.
In 2023, he had to request ketotifen, a simple antihistamine that he couldn't find for a month. The lack of the medication worsened Ashlin's respiratory condition, forcing her to use oxygen.
In April of that same year, Núñez also demanded the housing that the government had promised due to her daughter's medical condition. The family lives in a remote batey, far from the hospital and without basic conditions.
Today, with the arrival of chikungunya, their fragility multiplies.
The girl lost her vision at the age of five, has lost mobility, and requires constant care. The viral disease is only worsening an already critical condition.
An epidemic in a country without defenses
Ashlin's case adds to the wave of infections sweeping across Cuba. Thousands of people fall ill every day as the healthcare system, deteriorated and lacking resources, struggles to respond.
The shortage of medications is the norm, and the situation in hospitals—outdated technology, lack of supplies, dilapidated rooms, and insufficient staff—heightens the danger for vulnerable patients like this girl from Matanzas.
Chikungunya is hitting the population hard, while many families are lacking even serum to prevent dehydration. And although the authorities have acknowledged the magnitude of the outbreak, the concrete response remains minimal.
Ashlin's plight is not an isolated case, but rather a reflection of a country where falling ill means relying on the charity of others.
Every day, a new family appears on social media asking for help to obtain a medication that should be available in any functioning healthcare system.
But in Cuba, survival depends on citizen solidarity, because the State, unable to guarantee basic needs, has left its sick people at the mercy of fate.
And today, once again, Ashlin's life depends on someone finding - and sharing - the medications that the country cannot provide for her.
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