KENTWOOD, Mich. — Inside their home, Mirelis Culbeiux lays in her medical bed. Pictures of her on vacations and portraits of her and her mother cover the walls around her. Her mother, Mirelis Roque, gently lays her hand on her face and runs her fingers through her hair.
Her mother has been caring for her day and night for more than two years.
This comes after Mirelis survived a car crash on US-131 in July 2021. The crash also took the life of a 15-year-old boy and the man who caused the crash was sentenced to 16-years in prison.
With her daughter laying behind her, Roque said Mirelis spent nine months in the hospital, undergoing 19 surgeries.
"She needs a monitor for the heart rate, for the oxygen, because she has tracheostomy, and her health is really really delicate," said Roque. She explained that her daughter becomes sick often, and requires care 24-hours a day.
Roque showed the mattress next to her daughter's bed, saying that is where she sleeps every night.
"I am a widow. My husband, her father, passed away. So for me, my life changed completely. I don't work like before anymore," Roque said.
She also shared that her daughter's condition can change throughout a day, resulting in her being unable to work regularly.
"I am single mom, and the only family my daughter has," she added.
Roque has received help from friends and her landlord, making modifications to the house in order to make it accessible for Mirelis, along with them receiving an accessible van.
A nurse from the state has also begun to assist in caring for Mirelis, but Roque said the challenges continue to arise.
"When I get some help in the morning, I want to try to sleep a little bit, because I want to take a nap, because it is too much. If I continue like this, I can be sick, because if I be sick, nobody can care for her. Nobody," Roque said.
The van given to them, which is a 2002 model, has also broken down. While friends have helped to pay for repairs they are uncertain how much longer the van will last.
"Even with the services of 911, I need my car, because sometimes she wake up normal and she be sick in the same day. I need a car immediately outside to bring her at the hospital," she said.
They are also in need of way to afford therapy for Mirelis, and are looking for a permanent home to better care for Mirelis.
Roque says she has applied to receive assistance through various programs and organizations, but has found herself repeatedly not qualifying, and with little time to available for her to fill out applications.
"One time I had to fill out a paper, two to three hours in [typing on] the computer, and my daughter is coughing, or my daughter needs something, and the paper...the computer deleted it, and the application you need to start over again," Roque says.
"I can't. I can't. It's only me for everything."
A GoFundMe that has been set up for Mirelis Roque and her daughter can be found here.
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