Yamileth was just 4 years old and had been running a fever for days when she asked her mother for something very simple: cassava.
Lesia didn’t have money to buy it for her. She had traveled from La Mosquitia to San Pedro Sula, Honduras, hoping her daughter, who was battling Burkitt lymphoma, would receive medical care. The girl spent 16 days hospitalized at Mario Catarino Rivas Hospital and was discharged about four days before she died.
According to her mother’s account, Yamileth began experiencing symptoms such as vomiting in the early hours of the morning. Lesia planned to take her to the hospital in the morning, but before then, the little girl reportedly told her not to, saying God was going to take her that night. She died in her mother’s arms at the San Pedro Sula Metropolitan Terminal. The Public Prosecutor’s Office confirmed that the cause was multiple organ failure associated with her illness.
After the case came to light, Mayor Roberto Contreras announced that he would cover the transportation and funeral expenses so Yamileth could rest in peace.
