A 15-year-old Cuban teenager sought support on social media to have the chance to live without relying on a dialysis machine.
Claudia Melisa Cambar Venegas suffers from a kidney disease and is receiving treatment in Santiago de Cuba, while seeking to access a transplant outside the Island due to the lack of conditions to carry out that procedure in the country.
His case was shared on by the activist Nelson Álvarez, known as El Porfiao.
Three times a week, she spends four hours connected to a machine at the North Teaching Children's Hospital "Dr. Juan de la Cruz Martínez Maceira," known as La Ondi.
"When I am connected to dialysis, I feel tired, dizzy, cold, and like crying. It's four hours during which I can't move, and although I try to smile, inside I'm thinking about everything I'm missing," the young woman wrote in her GoFundMe fundraising campaign.
Álvarez, for his part, made a public appeal at the end of an interview with CiberCuba to mobilize the community in support of Claudia. "I only ask all your followers, my friends, my followers, the entire community, to help us with the issue of Claudia Melisa, as it is largely in our hands to save the life of that 15-year-old girl, who today published a video in which she said she wanted to live," Álvarez stated.
Claudia's situation encapsulates the crisis of the Cuban healthcare system: her siblings are compatible donors and are willing to give her a kidney, but the transplant is impossible on the island. "In Cuba, although there are good and dedicated doctors, we don't have the resources to perform a transplant. There aren't enough medications, there aren't enough supplies, there aren't the right conditions," Claudia herself explained.
Brazil presents itself as a viable alternative: there, surgery, hemodialysis, and hospitalization are free through the public health system. What the family needs to raise —with a goal of $9,000— covers the airfare for Claudia and a companion, accommodation for at least six months post-transplant, medications not included in public coverage, and administrative fees.
Álvarez was explicit about the transparency of the campaign: "You go to my page and there is the GoFundMe link, which is created by the family. In other words, not a cent passes through our hands. The family's cards are provided."
The activist, who in less than a year and a half has managed to take four severely ill children out of Cuba to receive treatment abroad, acknowledged the personal cost of his work: "This endeavor has cost me a lot, even my divorce."
Claudia's case is not isolated. Hemodialysis patients in Santiago de Cuba reported an acute crisis this month due to a lack of essential concentrates, with delayed treatments and reduced duration in the same hospital where she receives care. According to data from the state media Escambray, in 2025 only about 3,000 patients were receiving hemodialysis in Cuba, compared to over 4,500 in 2021.
"If you can donate one, five, or ten dollars, you will be buying a piece of my future. If you can’t, sharing my story on your social media, WhatsApp groups, or with your contacts abroad is just as valuable as a donation," the teenager wrote. Her final message sums it all up: "I don't just want to survive, I want to live."
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