Vanessa Alfonso Lupianez, a 7-year-old girl from Cuba who received cancer treatment in the United States after being granted a humanitarian visa requested by U.S. Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL), met the congresswoman on Sept. 8, one year after arriving from her homeland.
The child recently learned that her cancer is now in remission, prompting Rep. Salazar to visit Lupianez and her family in their South Florida home, according to information provided by the lawmaker’s staff.
Lupianez’s grandfather, a constituent of Rep. Salazar, contacted the congresswoman’s office in October 2021 about the situation, explaining that his granddaughter was diagnosed with a Wilms Tumor and had had a kidney removed in Cuba to stop the spread of the disease, according to the information.
At that time, the cancer had spread beyond her kidney and doctors told Lupianez’s parents that they lacked the proper medication to save her life. However, the necessary treatment could be obtained in the United States, the doctors said.
After speaking with Lupianez’s grandfather, staff in Rep. Salazar’s Miami office officially requested humanitarian parole for the child and her family. Following months of advocating on behalf of Lupianez, her application was finally approved and the family arrived in Florida to immediately start treatment.
Once in America, Lupianez was treated at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Miami, where doctors “saved her life,” Rep. Salazar said during an interview last week with WPLG Local 10.