Kirenia Matos Laborí, the mother of six-year-old Yodelmis Furones Matos, has expressed heartfelt thanks after her son was injured when a wall collapsed in their Baracoa home during Hurricane Oscar. The incident was triggered by a mango tree falling on their house. "I'm just grateful to see him alive and improving," Kirenia told the local newspaper Sierra Maestra, praising the medical staff's prompt response.
After experiencing dissociative amnesia from the traumatic event, which also injured her husband, Kirenia began to recall parts of that fateful day. The disaster struck around 2 a.m. on Monday, October 21, when the tree fell, causing a wall to collapse on Yodelmis. Amidst a total blackout, Kirenia and her husband attempted a rescue, during which he fractured his leg.
Residing in Joa, Baracoa, a small town of just over 1,000 inhabitants, they sought help from a nearby neighbor who drove them to the Octavio de la Concepción y de la Pedraja Hospital in his jeep, where Yodelmis received emergency care. The following day, he was airlifted to the Dr. Antonio María Béguez César Children's Hospital, known as La Colonia, in Santiago de Cuba for surgery.
"The staff who received and treated my baby from Tuesday onwards have become like family. The doctors, nurses, service staff... such kindness, so much help from people I don't even know, who've given us everything! Sometimes words fall short because gratitude seems insufficient. Seeing my son alive and recovering—what could be greater than that?" Kirenia expressed to the state-run media.
Community Support and Generosity
The rest of her family, including her 12-year-old son, parents, and an uncle, are safe in the hurricane-affected area. At the Santiago hospital, they received donations from the Millenium Bar and the Haitian Descendants Association, including boxes of clothes, shoes, toiletries like toothpaste and soap, and balloons to celebrate Yodelmis's full recovery, shared Milagros Merbillet Mericie, the Association's President.
Widespread Devastation and Heroic Rescues
Hurricane Oscar, exacerbated by the total collapse of the national power grid before its arrival, left a trail of destruction in Baracoa, San Antonio del Sur, and Imías. Among the various rescue stories is that of 12-year-old Daniel González Hernández, saved from severe flooding in San Antonio del Sur. He was admitted to the Pedro Agustín Pérez Provincial Pediatric Hospital in Guantánamo following a successful necrotomy on a severe leg injury to remove dead tissue and prevent infection-related deformities.
In addition to the widespread material damage and displacement, the hurricane claimed at least seven lives, according to officials. However, the extent of the devastation remains to be fully assessed, with the Cuban government being notably reticent in providing detailed information.