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A mother in the postpartum stage and her three-year-old daughter were rescued last Wednesday in the community of La Cueva, Jobo Arriba area, municipality of Imías, Guantánamo, in a coordinated operation between the Red Cross, the Municipal Rescue Group, and health authorities that required crossing a rocky river while carrying the patients with no possibility of vehicle transport.
The images from the operation, dated May 13 between 5:30 PM and 5:47 PM, show three men carrying the mother on an improvised stretcher covered with colorful fabric as they wade through the rocky riverbed surrounded by dense tropical vegetation.
The three-year-old girl crossed the same river on the back of a mule, accompanied by health personnel and community members who spontaneously joined the transport.
A member of the Cruz Roja de Imías, identifiable by their white vest with the characteristic red cross, led part of the river crossing alongside medical personnel in white coats and carrying emergency backpacks.
The Red Cross of Imías described the rescue as a collective achievement: “Solidarity hands, united wills, and a coordinated effort between the Municipal Rescue Group, health authorities, and the Provincial Red Cross made it possible to achieve what is essential… to arrive on time.”
The operation involved about 10-15 people who crossed the river at different times during the 17 minutes captured in the photographs.
Jobo Arriba is located in the Sierra del Purial, one of the most difficult-to-access areas in the province of Guantánamo, where any medical emergency requires coordination between institutions and the community due to the complete absence of roads for vehicles.
The postpartum period is a stage of high vulnerability for the mother, which makes every hour of delay a critical risk to her life.
This rescue is not an isolated incident. Just two weeks earlier, the Red Cross in Yateras evacuated an elderly man with a hip fracture from Palenque Arriba under similar conditions: transported on a stretcher on foot through hostile terrain.
In April, two-year-old Gael de Jesús Leyva was found alive in the Los Cerezo community of the same municipality of Imías after a mobilization by the Municipal Operations and Rescue Group, the Red Cross, and volunteer neighbors, a case that the Red Cross of Imías referred to as a precedent of its work.
The municipality of Imías has been suffering from structural vulnerability exacerbated by Hurricane Oscar in October 2024, when severe flooding isolated Imías and San Antonio del Sur and forced the evacuation of approximately 9,000 people, while the alternative route via Moa-Baracoa took more than seven hours.
The Red Cross of Imías captured the spirit of the operation with a phrase that defines the reality of these communities: "This achievement does not belong to a single person. It also belongs to every neighbor who carried, accompanied, and did not hesitate to help. Because when a community unites, no obstacle is insurmountable."
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