Cuban Exiles Mourn for Mother Who Gave Last Water to Son on Raft

Hundreds of Cuban exiles turned out Saturday to mourn a woman who fell into a coma and died after giving her son the last of their drinking water as the pair drifted on a raft in the Florida Straits.

“This is an example that has united us and taught us exiles a lesson,” said Deacon Ray Ortega, coordinator of the Bereaved Ministry of the Archdiocese of Miami.

“The world should know why we’re here today,” Ortega said. “We’re here to say goodby to a mother who gave her life so that her son could have life.”

Many of 28-year-old Raisa Teresa Santana’s mourners said they felt both a sense of loss and rage toward Fidel Castro’s tight 34-year rule of their homeland.

Chants of “assassin” and “Cuba will be free,” punctuated the memorial services and the two-mile-long funeral procession.

Santana was pronounced dead on May 19 at a local hospital, eight days after she slipped into a coma. On May 11, a cruise ship rescued her and 9-year-old son Frank Miguel Gonzalez from a raft.

Two men who began the treacherous journey with the mother and son fell overboard and apparently were swept away to their deaths.

After being rescued, Frank told authorities that in the final days on the raft, his mother gave him what fresh water remained. She drank seawater and lapsed into unconsciousness. Doctors said the salt water led to a fatal inflammation of the brain.