An Ecuadorian girl needs treatment in Spain but the authorities do not allow her to leave the country

Proton therapy or proton radiation therapy is a procedure that allows you to specifically treat an area of the body affected by a tumor and causes less damage to healthy tissue, unlike radiation therapy that uses X-rays. It is precisely this treatment that Ashley needs, a little girl who has been struggling with a brain tumor for five years. In order to access protontherapy, Ashley must be treated in Spain. However, the Ecuadorian Ministry of Health has not processed the girl's international referral so that she can be treated in the European country, rather, she has been referred to a hospital in Solca, specialized in oncology, in the Andean country, according to her parents.

When Ashley was three years old, she was detected with a brain tumor that has made her go through surgeries, radiation therapy and other treatments. However, there have been no results showing the elimination of these malignant cells. The first warning signs of Ashley's tumor began at eight months of age, according to her mother Valeria Sanchez to El Universo. Despite certain warnings, pediatricians told Sanchez that Ashley was fine.

Although Ashley was no longer a baby, her mother says, the little girl tripped or crashed as she walked against the things in front of her and had a movement of her eyes that prevented her from fixing her gaze. Faced with this, Valeria took her daughter to the ophthalmologist and was then referred to the neurologist where she was diagnosed with a lemon-sized brain tumor. The tumor was located behind Ashley's optic nerves, who underwent emergency surgery and removed 40% of the tumor. However, after the operation, Ashley lost her vision.

Since that time, Ashley has had extensive medical interventions and sessions to remove the tumor, but it has not been reduced. Even after an MRI, doctors detected that the little girl had developed hydrocephalus and that the tumor had increased in size. In June of the previous year, he had a catheter placed so that he could drain fluid from his head.

Ashley's family wants to take her to Navarra in Spain so she can receive proton radiation therapy, a process that is not available in Ecuador. In November 2021, Sanchéz submitted her daughter's documentation to the Ministry of Health so that they can refer her to the medical center in Spain.

“She gives us strength,” her mother told El Universo. Sánchez hopes that his daughter could be transferred to Spain: “Her oncologist (from Solca) and from the same hospital (in Navarra, Spain) told me that such treatment would be positive. Here (in Solca Guayaquil), the oncologist explained to me that all (medical) resources had been exhausted,” Ashley's mother said, as collected by the Ecuadorian newspaper.

The parents have not received a response from the Ministry of Health, but the doctors in Solca and the Ecuadorian newspaper have. The country's health agency has said that, in the case of Ashley, “after an analysis of the case, it was decided to recommend that the specialist treating the patient inform the family about the therapeutic alternatives that exist at the national level, and the Zonal 8 Health Coordination should manage the referral to Solca Quito so that the patient start treatment.”

“All that has been done to my daughter. I will not allow the baby to do these procedures, when Solca Guayaquil has already said that it is no longer possible,” said Sánchez.

The mother cannot work because she must take care of Ashley and her second daughter. Ashley's father is the only financial support in the family and works as a waiter in a restaurant. With this situation, the family has sold their belongings to finance Ashley's treatments and to raise a fund to allow them to travel to Spain so that the child can receive the treatment. Her family seeks to raise more than USD 100,000 so that the little girl can have eight months of treatment in Spain.

To receive donations, Ashley's mother has made an account available at the Banco de Guayaquil in Ecuador. Savings account 45236221 is in the name of Valeria Alexandra Sánchez Tenorio, her ID is 0931467526. Banco Guayaquil SWIFT or BIC code is GUAYECEGXXX.

KEEP READING: