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Yenney Caballero, an animal rescuer based in San José de las Lajas, Mayabeque, suffered burns on her left hand while preparing liver with charcoal for her dogs during a blackout that lasted more than 24 hours due to the explosion of a transformer.
Caballero the accident on his Facebook profile with photos of his reddened hand submerged in a container of water.
"Cooking with charcoal, no conditions, rushing for everything. More than 24 hours without electricity because the transformer exploded for the third time," he wrote.
The boiling water from the liver spilled over him as he tried to tend to his rescued animals.
Without electricity and without cold water available at home, he had to rush out to ask his neighbors for help.
"My hand with which I do everything. I had to run outside to ask for help, thanks to the prompt response of my neighbors because I didn't even have a bottle of cold water to relieve the terrible burning I felt," he described.
Fortune had it that a doctor from the burn unit of the San José de las Lajas hospital was visiting a neighbor's house. The doctor provided immediate care and advised on the next steps to take. Caballero announced that he would go for a consultation the following day to receive the necessary treatment for the blisters that had already formed.
"I can't take my hand out of the cold water; it's what keeps me somewhat relieved. I wish I could live without stress, without worries," she concluded her post, which garnered over 1,500 reactions and nearly 500 supportive comments.
Several followers confirmed in the comments that they had experienced similar situations that same day in Mayabeque.
"We had an outage today at 2:30 PM and they still haven't come. We're experiencing low voltage and I can't even sleep," wrote one user. Another added, "This situation has us off balance."
The case of Caballero is not isolated. The Cuban electrical crisis of 2026 has recorded a deficit exceeding 2,100 MW, with blackouts lasting up to 50 consecutive hours in some municipalities. E
The maximum peak reached 2,174 MW on May 14, leaving up to 70% of the island without electricity simultaneously. Faced with a lack of solutions, millions of Cubans are forced to cook with coal and wood in precarious and dangerous conditions.
Accidents resulting from this situation have multiplied. On June 14, a nine-month-old baby suffered burns in Santiago de Cuba while their family was cooking with charcoal during a power outage.
An elderly woman was also seriously injured under similar circumstances in that same province and was referred to the burn unit of the Juan Bruno Zayas Hospital.
Carballero is a recognized figure in the animal welfare community of Mayabeque.
In April 2024, he was featured in the public denunciation of three men arrested in San José de las Lajas accused of killing stray dogs to sell their meat falsely as pork or mutton.
Their activism unfolds without state support, in a context where the Cuban regime fails to comply with its own Decree-Law 31 on Animal Welfare, having not created the shelters and rescue centers that the regulation mandates since 2021.
"We are going through very difficult times, especially those of us who have so many animals under our care," summarized one of the rescuers who commented on the post, articulating what thousands of Cubans face every day.
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