Carlos Massola's Distressing Audio Surfaces Before His Death

A chilling audio has surfaced on social media, revealing the harrowing hours before the death of renowned Cuban actor Carlos Massola. The audio, believed to be a WhatsApp message sent to a close friend, captures Massola's account of his worsening condition, which he attributed to consuming “some pizzas.”

“I vomited blood. The issue was caused by some pizzas I ate from down there, because everything here is improvised, improvised. I started feeling nauseous and couldn't vomit. The problem is, I had stomach surgery, and it irritated the lining. I spent an entire day trying to vomit, retching and retching, but nothing would come out,” the actor detailed.

Massola went on to describe how he fell to the floor in the early morning and experienced bloody diarrhea. This was followed by multiple episodes of vomiting. He explained that he even fell and lay on the floor for hours, unable to get up.

“I started vomiting and vomiting. The last vomit was at 11 p.m. last night, which was a black liquid. That's when the vomiting and diarrhea stopped,” he described.

“When I felt better, I sat on the bed, all soiled. What could I do? I haven't even been able to shower because I'm afraid to stand up and fall again,” Massola added in his distressing testimony, mentioning that a surgeon, apparently consulted over the phone, advised him to take metronidazole.

“I'm better, but I'm afraid to stand up because I might fall again, and there's no one here to help me,” the actor concluded.

This account aligns with the information shared on social media by his friend Fabio Corchado Borroto.

“He had several bouts of vomiting and bloody diarrhea. He fell from the bed and remained unconscious on the floor all night. He called me in the morning asking for metronidazole, but he refused to go to the doctor at that time. This morning, he was found lifeless,” Corchado Borroto wrote in a Facebook post announcing Massola's death.

Gladys Escandell Pérez, Massola's mother, spoke to Cubanet, revealing that her son spent four days confined to his room, refusing medical attention and not allowing anyone in.

She recounted how Massola was unwell and rejected any assistance, even from her, despite her efforts to convince him to seek medical help.

“Not wanting to upset him, I didn't open the door. I told him from the doorway that he needed to see a doctor, but he refused,” Escandell Pérez said. She expressed gratitude for the support but also criticized the misinformation surrounding her son's death.

“He didn't think he was that seriously ill and believed he would recover on his own. He didn't want to go to the hospital because he said there were no resources there,” she explained.

Massola's mother confirmed that her son had been weak, vomiting, and defecating blood for days due to pre-existing conditions and chose not to seek medical help.

Massola’s remains were cremated as per his wishes. After a seven-hour wait for the funeral vehicle, his body was taken from his home in the Cerro municipality to the Bernardo García funeral home on Zanja Street with the help of firefighters. The family doctor determined that Massola died from hypovolemic shock, a critical condition where severe blood or fluid loss prevents the heart from pumping enough blood to the body, causing organ failure.

Despite his outspoken criticism of the Cuban government in recent years, Massola's death was completely ignored by the island's cultural authorities. No official Cuban cultural institution acknowledged his passing on social media, drawing harsh criticism from thousands of Cubans, including government supporters like singer Cándido Fabré.

While the official silence was deafening, Massola received heartfelt recognition and spontaneous tributes from many colleagues and the public, who admired his courage to express his political views without censorship.

Carlos Massola died while waiting for a humanitarian parole that would have allowed him to leave Cuba and pursue a better life.