But if you're Mexican, whoa, not so fast, Bucko:
Family and friends raised thousands of dollars to send Jose Chua Lopez to the prestigious Mayo Clinic for an urgently needed heart and liver transplant.The difference, of course, is money. But the real impact is that, around the globe, this makes our country really look petty and inhuman.
But the 20-year-old Mexican born with a heart defect has twice been turned down for a US visa, and relatives and his doctor say his life is in danger.
“They denied me the visa and my world has fallen down,” Chua told The Associated Press on Wednesday. “This needs to be fixed quickly.”
His mother, Myra Lopez Martinez, said Chua has an appointment at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, in 10 days, but his visa application was rejected a second time by the US State Department on Tuesday.
If I were the Chinese ambassador to Mexico, I'd look into greasing the skids to get that kid into the best hospital in China. It'd be a PR coup that would both make the US look bad and help counter the impression that the Chinese are economic rapists of the Third World.
We used to be able to rely on Cuba for that kind of propaganda-entertainment. Offering to cure Michael Jackson when he claimed to have vitiligo will always be one of my favorite new stories.
ReplyDeleteThey seem to have lost their spark lately, though.
Cuba's trying to make nice these days with the U.S.
ReplyDeleteThis story doesn't seem right. I'm fairly sure there transplant surgery is done in Mexico. In addition, if friends and family raised "thousands" of dollars for the trip to Minnesota, who would be paying the bill for the transplant(s) should he be found a viable candidate for the surgery?
ReplyDeleteIt just seems off kilter to me.
Jay in N.C.
Jay in NC- the story I read stated that noone in Mexico can perform double transplants.
ReplyDelete