The boy and his parents, Noel Zayas and Melvis Vizaino, both pastors of an evangelical church in the central Cuba city of Santa Clara, had flown to Miami Nov. 27 on a humanitarian visa. Missionaries from Reel Life International, a humanitarian nonprofit, had met the boy in Cuba and forwarded his case to Marx, who is experienced in the removal of large facial tumors.
Several benefactors had raised money for the procedure, launching an online donation platform and a Facebook page in the name of "Emanuel el Josue de este tiempo — Emanuel the Joshua of Our Time — which features photos of a smiling child riding a tricycle and then an older boy on a hospital bed holding up a drawing of the U.S. flag.
The page had more than 200 messages of condolences by Sunday morning on a post by Jaynie Estrada, a missionary who considers the Zayas family as her own and led the fund-raising effort.