The news of the death of little Rafael Junior Chávez Carrera, just eight months old, has shocked the Cuban community both on and off the island.
The baby remained in critical condition at the William Soler Hospital in Havana, awaiting a liver transplant that never materialized.
His mother, Yanet Carrera, was a suitable donor, but liver transplants are not performed in Cuba on infants, and efforts to transfer him to another country failed.
Cuban activist Yamilka Lafita, known online as Lara Crofs, confirmed the sad news on Saturday in a heartfelt Facebook post: ”
Little Rafael couldn’t take it anymore. His light and courage will be remembered by those of us who supported his struggle.”
Two days before his death, the child’s condition deteriorated due to acute kidney failure and a severe bacterial infection, which quickly compromised his neurological and general health.
Doctors warned that if he couldn’t urinate, the damage to his organs would be irreversible. Despite the efforts and treatments administered, the deterioration was unstoppable, as the doctors noted.
From his first month of life, Rafael was diagnosed with idiopathic neonatal hepatitis, a rare and serious disease that progressed to severe liver failure.
After being initially treated in Ciego de Ávila, he was referred to the capital’s hospital, where specialists confirmed that a liver transplant was the only option.
The family didn’t sit idly by. Parents, friends, and activists launched an intense social media campaign to try to obtain a humanitarian visa that would allow him to be transferred to Spain, where doctors at La Paz University Hospital were willing to accept him, as had happened in other similar cases.
The boy’s father, Rafael Chávez, publicly joined the desperate plea: ”
My son wants to live; he deserves a chance. These transplants can’t be performed here. The only way out is to get him out of the country.”
Despite the displays of solidarity and medical assistance in Spain, the response came late.
His family, friends, and those who supported his struggle remember him today as a little warrior, a symbol of the silent battles that many Cuban families face every day.
