“I Don’t Want to Die”: Lucas Murillo’s Plea to Colombia’s President Exposes Health System Crisis

“I don’t want to die,” seven-year-old Lucas Francesco Murillo García said in a video that brought Colombia’s health-system crisis into the national spotlight. Born with a congenital heart condition, Lucas says he has only half a heart, relies on oxygen and has undergone three open-heart surgeries.

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My name is Lucas Francesco Murillo García, I am seven years old. I was born with a heart condition, and I always use oxygen. I live in Cúcuta, in Norte de Santander. I have had three open-heart surgeries because I only have half a heart.

Lucas lives in Cúcuta, in Norte de Santander, and said his mother had spent a year trying to get Nueva EPS to authorise medical tests and a catheterisation at a top-level clinic. She also sought to have him placed on a transplant list. Lucas has difficulty speaking, but his appeal, delivered while wearing Colombia’s national football shirt, spread widely on social media.

The video prompted President Abelardo de la Espriella to intervene. He ordered Health Minister Ana María Vesga to take personal charge of the case and said Lucas was receiving the required care through Nueva EPS under specialists at the Cardiovascular Foundation of Bucaramanga.

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I don’t want to die.

The president said he later spoke with Lucas by telephone and promised to help him with whatever he needed. At the end of the call, Lucas responded softly, “Firm for the homeland,” the campaign slogan De la Espriella has continued to use in government.

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I gave the immediate instruction to act, without delay.

The response has also drawn a political reading. The account presents Lucas’s case as one of many urgent problems in Colombia’s health system, while noting that presidential attention turned his situation into a priority. De la Espriella took office on Aug. 7 promising an emergency plan to address the health crisis, and said he acted immediately after hearing Lucas’s message.

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Today I can give the country reassurance: Lucas is already receiving the medical care he needs through Nueva EPS and is in the hands of specialists from the Cardiovascular Foundation of Bucaramanga, who will oversee his treatment.