A cruel and unjust fate, the one that broke the life of the very young man Martín, died at the age of 8 because of a brain cancer: The child succumbed to the disease during hospitalization. He was hospitalized in Murcia, Spain, where he lived with the rest of his family.
“I thought we’d make it,” his 30-year-old older brother Rafa wrote on social media after the tragic news. «He flies high like a Charizard (his favorite Pokemon ed). Like the dragon you’ve always been. He leaves the weight with us and goes to the place where only the best are,” reads the caption of the Instagram post.
Beside a photo in which he holds the hand of his little brother.
The battle against the disease (and the shortcomings of Spanish healthcare)
Eight months ago, in October 2022, Martin was diagnosed with diffuse midline glioma with the “H3 QM27” mutation, a disease with just a 1% chance of survival. According to the Sant Joan de Déu Hospital in Barcelona, «DIPG (diffuse intrinsic trunk glioma) is the most common tumor of the brain stem in children».
The child’s family had fought relentlessly for the authorities to create a reference structure capable of assisting children with adequate palliative care. “Aren’t they ashamed to abandon us like this?” complained the child’s mother, Isabel Muelas, in an interview with ABC in February.
The meeting with the influencer Frank Cuesta
The story of Martín and his family’s battle with the Spanish health system has come to the attention of the Iberian public opinion in recent months. Frank Cuesta, known as “Frank de la Jungla”, a Spanish influencer much loved by Martin himself, was also interested in the case: after learning that the little one admired him, and was hospitalized, he did not hesitate to visit him. The meeting took place on 31 May in the Murcia hospital. For Martin it had been like a dream come true. A moment of innocent bliss, before leaving everything too soon.