• Submitted by: admin
• United States
• Health and Medicine
• 05 / 10 / 2010

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During the past six months, the congregation of Sharon Baptist Church in Smithfield worked to bring a 12-year-old Cuban boy with a fatal disease to North Carolina for medical treatment.

"A small miracle has taken place as a result of their prayers and support and contacts," said Ned Walsh, a church member who helped organize the boy's trip.

The Cuban family joined the congregation at mass Sunday morning.

Walsh met 12-year-old Yudel Hernandez on a trip to Cuba. The boy suffers from muscular dystrophy and is in a wheelchair. Walsh wondered if doctors in North Carolina could help. And he asked his church for help.

"It touches people because we are two nations that are not at peace with each other. Cuba and the United States. And when people hear that a Cuban child is coming and we have the opportunity to express our solidarity with the people of Cuba... their children, our children... I think people in our churches and businesses, hospitals began to respond," Walsh said.

Within months, the congregation helped Yudel get permission to travel to the U.S., free airline tickets, and free treatment at Duke University Medical Center.

Doctors cannot cure Yudel, but they can make his life easier.

More modern technology, like a motorized wheelchair, can also help.

"This is something that would be almost if not completely impossible for him to have in Cuba. This means he can get out on the street with his friends," Walsh said.

Sunday morning, Yudel's mother, Mahelia, thanked the congregation for helping her son and for treating her family as if they were long-time friends.

The next stop for the Cuban family is a Durham Bulls game and then Washington D.C.

Doctors from Duke plan to coordinate with Cuban doctors to continue helping Yudel.

Source: johnston.mync.com