What seemed impossible finally happened: the family, who had left Cuba in search of an opportunity to save themselves, was able to enter the United States legally after a long immigration battle.
After six months of uncertainty, the Cuban girl Mía Rey Jiménez, just two years old, arrived in Miami to receive medical treatment for an aggressive cancer that put her life in jeopardy.
The story, narrated by Univisión, began in Cárdenas, Matanzas, when Mia's parents decided to leave the island after receiving a wrong and devastating diagnosis: metastatic neuroblastoma, a type of childhood cancer at stage four.
After their departure, the family first traveled to Nicaragua and then to Costa Rica, where the girl underwent chemotherapy and a high-risk surgery.
Costa Rican doctors only gave her a 40% chance of survival, but her mother, Liudmila Jiménez Matos, held on to her faith: “Thank God she came out well, because she is a warrior, she has the will to live,” she shared.
In Costa Rica, specialists warned that the tumor was involved with the aorta and the vena cava.
Despite the successful operation, Mía still has a mass in one lung and metastases in the bone marrow, which prevents her body from producing stem cells properly.
Hope arrived when doctors from Nicklaus Children's Hospital in Miami offered to treat his case at no cost, with an 85% chance of success.
However, the obstacle was entering the United States legally. The family applied for a humanitarian visa, which was denied at first instance.
A team of lawyers took on the case pro bono and filed an appeal, but they never received a response.
According to legal assistant Lissette Herrera from The Founders Law, “Maria Elvira Salazar's office worked hand in hand with us, and honestly, they did a tremendous job.”
It was the direct intervention of Cuban-American Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar that ultimately unlocked the case.
Her office managed a humanitarian exception with the immigration authorities, and the family petition submitted by Mía's father, a legal resident in the United States, was approved.
"I couldn't be happier. She will be received by some doctors who have been waiting for her for a long time. That is simply love for their profession and for saving another little girl," expressed Liudmila, emocionado, upon arriving at Miami airport.
The girl is already admitted to Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, where she will begin specialized treatment that could save her life. “God has a great purpose for her,” her father stated, convinced that this journey marks the beginning of a miracle.
In the words of the journalist from Univisión who covered the case, “like a miracle amidst a complex migratory landscape, this week the family petition was approved.”
Now, the family awaits the day when Mía can ring the bell that symbolizes victory over cancer.
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