Young English tourist saved in Cuba
Campaign News | Monday, 27 September 2004
Healthcare system at its best
HOLGUIN (AIN).- On Friday September 24, the efficiency of the Cuban healthcare system saved the life of a young English boy who was vacationing on the island and who runderwent an emergency operation at the Octavio de la Concepción y de la Pedraja hospital in this city in eastern Cuba.
The eight-year-old boy was recovering satisfactorily following surgical intervention carried out by a multidisciplinary group to treat an obstruction of one of his cerebrospinal fluid tracts.
The edition of the provincial newspaper ¡Ahora! on September 25 reported how the young boy arrived in Cuba on Wednesday 22 together with his parents and two siblings on a direct flight from the United Kingdom in order to enjoy a second vacation at the tourist resort of Guardalavaca in the province of Holguín.
On the journey to the hotel, the child, Blake Ray suffered a convulsive fit, with foaming at the mouth, rigidity and loss of consciousness, symptoms that required his immediate transfer to the emergency room at the local hospital.
At the intensive unit, neurologist Josefa Mar González confirmed that “Blake’s salvation was that he came to Cuba on vacation.”
Brian Murton and his wife Karol Mary told how, before coming to Cuba, they had taken young Blake to see a local doctor in South Humberside on two occasions, who recommended that their son make regular trips to the bathroom, adding, “in that way it should pass”.
Both parents expressed their gratitude for the attention offered to the family and the conscientious care their son had received, describing the Cuban healthcare system as excellent and very professional.
Following his positive recovery Blake has been discharged from hospital to continue his interrupted vacation.
Established 22 years ago, the Octavio de la Concepción y de la Pedraja general teaching hospital provides all kinds of medical specialties, an intensive care unit and has a 95% survival rate.
http://www.granma.cu/ingles/2004/septiembre/mar28/40salvan-i.html
