A sick child’s destiny rests on a letter from the Cuban government and a US visa
Ten-year-old Damir Ortiz requires care from a Miami hospital for his neurological genetic condition
Time passes and 10-year-old Damir Ortiz gets a little sicker every day. This fact is evident to the doctors who are treating him for plexiform neurofibromatosis type 1, a neurological genetic condition that has led to the appearance of tumors throughout his body. It’s evident to the Ministry of Public Health authorities and the rest of the Cuban government, but also to the officials at the U.S. embassy in Havana, where the young boy with a diminutive physique, a right eye so swollen it looks ready to pop, and very little strength left presented himself. He had come to request a visa that would allow him to travel for treatment at Miami’s Nicklaus Children’s Hospital.
