Cuba saved my daughter

Summer 2004

Three-year-old Raquaya was left paralysed by encephalitis but has made a miracle recovery thanks to Cuba

THREE-year-old Raquaya Tate from North London has been given a new lease of life after spending time at Cuba’s ground-breaking Centre of Neurological Restoration in Havana,

Tiny Raquaya or Kaye Kaye as her mother Denise calls her, was given up as an untreatable case by British doictoras after she suffered extensive paralysis when she caught encephalitis at 8 months old.

The National health saved her life from the brain-damaging effects of the virus, but after reviving her fomr a coma, she was left with motor deficiencies that meant she had to be fed with drip through her nose and on a course of debilitating drugs.

The specialists in Britain treating her told mother Denise that there was no hop that Kaye Kaye would ever recover.

But then Denise heard about Ciren and raised money to send Kaye Kaye there in January this year and the results have been amazing.

Says Denise 36 of Edgeware, North London, “Kaye Kaye is defying everybody. What the Cuban doctors did is nothing short of a miracle.”

Now Kaye Kaye can use her hands, she can feed herself and swallow. What is morere she has been taken of most of the drugs she was prescribed in Britian and now takes only three which the Cubans have given her.

The cours eof treatment at CIREN costs £12,000 and lasted six weeks and Kaye Kaye will have to return for two further bouts.

“The doctors here can’t believe the progress she has made,” says Denise.

“Cuba has given my child and family an insight into what life could be like for Kaye Kaye and we will be forever grateful.

The trip has made a huge difference to the way Denise views Cuba:

“I had great reservations when embarking on this journey, as I had read and heard a lot of negative points about Cuba and its nationals, questions were asked of me (especially from medics in the UK) what was available in Cuba, and the fact that it is a 3rd world country, what could they possibly have to offer.

Kaye Kaye’s therapy consisted of an intense programme of rehabilitation staring from 9am and ending at 5.30pm.

Says denise:

“The staff were very dedicated and worked with great enthusiasm and hope, never doubting her ability to achieve a higher goal, this positive approach was very encouraging for me and I am sure that Kaye Kaye felt this.

This has been an incredible, life altering experience for me and my family.

“Cubans look up to children with special needs, they see them as blessings and not burdens or costly, they are treated like royalty and are highly respected, just as every child should be regardless of their ability an attitude not often seen elsewhere.”