A young woman from Camagüey died in the past hours at the Manuel Ascunce Domenech Provincial Clinical Surgical Teaching Hospital in Camagüey, amid the distress of her family, who were unable to obtain an essential medication she needed in time to stay alive.
According to information provided to CiberCuba by a source close to the family, the young woman was from the Puerto Príncipe neighborhood in the city of Camagüey, and "she just died due to a lack of medication in the hospital."
“They went out to buy the medicine due to the revolico and by the time they returned, she had already died,” the source reported, who claimed to know the young woman personally as she was from the same neighborhood and had family ties to her surroundings.
The deceased was identified as Ana Ivis Suárez Batista, just 26 years old, and according to the source, she had been dealing with health issues for years due to her diabetes, a condition that made her particularly vulnerable to any complications.
A user identified as Yamila Fernández, who said she was the young woman's doctor years ago, expressed her sorrow over what happened and left a message that reflects the ongoing drama the family was experiencing.
"What sadness. A few years ago, I was her doctor in the health sector, and I know how hard this little girl and her mother fought to survive each complication caused by that terrible illness. My condolences to the entire family and friends," he wrote.
The medication I urgently needed was norepinephrine (noradrenaline), a vasopressor used in critical situations to raise blood pressure in cases of severe acute hypotension or various types of shock, such as septic or cardiogenic shock. It is an emergency medication that is administered exclusively intravenously and under strict medical supervision, typically in intensive care or an operating room.
Although some reports on social media claim that the young woman was hospitalized for three days, the source clarified to CiberCuba that she was admitted "yesterday," and not three days prior as has been circulated.
The independent journalist José Luis Tan Estrada shared screenshots of messages where family members desperately sought help to obtain the medication, alerting that the young woman was in serious condition and on a ventilator.
"Good morning, I am the mother of the owner of this profile… she is critically ill and intubated, norepinephrine is urgently needed… please, my daughter is between life and death," the shared message reads.
The death of the young woman has caused shock in Camagüey and has rekindled complaints about the health crisis in Cuba, characterized by a lack of medication even in emergency situations, where every minute counts.
While the Cuban healthcare system continues to be presented as one of the "great achievements" of the regime, stories like that of Ana Ivis bring to light an increasingly common reality: desperate families, hospitals lacking basic resources, and deaths that many consider preventable.
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