MIAMI, United States. – A campaign in GoFundMe to save the life of Dailén Chávez Yero, a 10-year-old Cuban girl, had raised, until the early hours of this Thursday, just over 8,000 dollars, of a goal set at 20,000.
The initiative — titled “Let’s save Dailén’s life” and created by two Cuban residents in Miami, Mariela Feal and Marielys Valdivia — seeks to cover both the immediate medical needs of the minor as well as possible visa procedures and future treatments outside the Island, where According to his relatives, “they have already closed all the doors.”
On the fundraising page it is explained that “Dailén wants to live, but his life is running out. The girl is only 10 years old and carries more than a dozen diseases. (…) He urgently needs a multi-organ liver and kidney transplant.” Her mother, Sancti Spiritus doctor Danielly Yero, faces the dilemma of not being able to adequately treat her daughter in Cuba, given the shortage of medications and the lack of specialized procedures (multi-organ liver and kidney transplants are not performed in the country).
One of the creators of the campaign, Mariela Feal, assured that, so far, “they have donated influencerspeople linked to politics and many others.”
The young woman, who just created her first GoFundMe campaign to try to save the life of the Cuban girl, assures that “the priority is to get a sponsor and a humanitarian visa to get Dailén, her mother and her brother out of Cuba.” However, Feal also recognizes that “money is needed to keep the girl on the Island, while she has to be there.”
“The most important thing is to find a sponsor from here, whether it is an entity or a natural person who will take the girl out of Cuba,” emphasizes the young woman.
According to the GoFundMe campaign, the proceeds will initially be used to cover the costs of food, basic care and medicines that are mostly not found in the Cuban health system. The medium-term objective is to manage humanitarian visas for the United States or other countries that could offer the transplant; and in the event that the possibility of a medical procedure arises in places such as Brazil, Uruguay, Spain or Canada, “the funds will be used to cover medical and travel expenses.”
The case of Dailén, which was initially reported by CubaNetbegan to attract attention due to the crude testimony of the minor’s mother, who has said that her daughter suffers from autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease, portal hypertension, liver cirrhosis and other ailments that lead to possible hemorrhages and multisystem failures.
These medical conditions, which could lead to death, have been aggravated by the lack of resources and surgical treatments on the Island, a situation that has led the family to sell properties and belongings in order to raise money.
Dailén “needs special diet and care,” details the campaign on GoFundMe, which urges the international community to collaborate, even if it is by “sharing the story” of the girl.
In his dialogue with CubaNetthe mother of the minor, who also looks after her 14-month-old baby, lamented the lack of options in Cuba: “Here you can’t treat her, you can’t care for her, you can’t feed her.”
Despite the support provided by friends and supportive people, the creators of the campaign maintain that the amount set at $20,000 is only a first step to saving the life of the minor and that each contribution will make “a big difference.”
