Related videos:
Lester Domínguez Ortiz celebrates his birthday this Wednesday in Holguín without a date for the urgently needed surgery, more than a year after doctors confirmed he was fit to undergo the procedure.
The young man, who became paralyzed after being attacked with a machete to the neck in March 2023 in San Germán, Holguín, when he was 16 years old, shared his situation in a video released by content creator Noly Blak: «I need surgery because I have a compressed spinal cord and an inverted cervical, and that is gradually compressing the spinal cord more and is killing me.»
Lester claims to have already gathered the necessary surgical materials for the intervention, but no one from the health system has contacted him in over a year. "A year ago I was waiting. I even had tests done and everything, but they told me they were going to call me, that they would get in touch, and no one has done so," he stated. "I just need them to prepare the operating room and call me."
The spinal compression is progressing and is already preventing him from opening his hands, making it difficult for him to even operate his wheelchair, which is also deteriorated and broken. “The spinal cord is compressing me, and I am losing the use of my hands. I can no longer handle this chair,” he noted.
Lester is staying at his aunt's house in Holguín because there is no regular electricity supply in San Germán, his hometown.
The attack that changed his life happened when he was walking home with his phone in hand: "I was caught off guard from behind, I didn't even realize. They got me on a corner as I was heading straight home. I only felt the blow."
The assailant, Adrián Grass Bermúdez, was identified when the stolen phone —a low-value Huawei— was found buried in his yard.
The Prosecutor's Office requested 20 years in prison for Grass Bermúdez, plus an additional four years for stealing phones from other victims, and the trial is set to conclude for sentencing in May 2024. A second suspect committed suicide prior to the proceedings.
The operation has accumulated a series of delays. In August 2025, doctors confirmed that Lester was ready for surgery, but in October the family was still searching for an essential orthopedic minerva for the procedure. In November, Hurricane Melissa worsened the situation by affecting 461 healthcare facilities in eastern Cuba, including Holguín.
This collapse is not isolated: the Cuban healthcare system has amassed in 2026 a surgical waitlist of up to 96,000 people, including 11,000 children, with surgeries limited to emergencies due to a lack of electricity and resources.
Lester's father, Dennis Domínguez, publicly denounced the regime's neglect and described the situation with irony: “A medical powerhouse, where the child is in danger for his life due to that inverted vertebra that has not been able to be operated on.”
He also reported that his son has been without any kind of state assistance for over a year: "This is how they claim to support vulnerable cases and those in greatest need—stop deceiving the people."
As a birthday gift, Lester Fleites, a resident of the United States, announced the donation of an electric wheelchair for the young man, as his current wheelchair is no longer manageable.
The pending surgery, however, remains the main threat to his recovery, as the untreated vertebra could lead to arthritis and hinder any progress in rehabilitation.
"The child is alive by a miracle," summarized Dennis Domínguez, who asked those wishing to help to contact Lester directly at the number 54-19-99-63.
Filed under: