It was her respect for life that led her to board a plane bound for the United Arab Emirates during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. When she was called to serve with the Henry Reeve Brigade, she didn’t think twice, even though her two children were a very compelling reason to stay close to home. Still, she said yes, but entrusted them to all that is great and divine until she returned.

She arrived in a foreign country where every person wore a mask, and deaths followed one after another, in the midst of a surging wave. Those were days of despair, of the most vivid panic of her entire existence. Jhoanys Diéguez Peña will never forget her first day at the Stem Cell Center, which welcomed her for more than three months.

“The conditions were created to treat critically ill patients with their own stem cells. That was innovative and quite effective. The results led to more advanced studies, but initially, many human lives were saved.

“There are days when I think back to that country, to the pandemic’s tragic toll. But to be honest, the hardest part came after I returned to Cuba. That period left the deepest mark on my career as a registered nurse.”

Back with her loved ones, another mission slipped beneath her white uniform. Without much rest, she found herself on the front lines in 2019, as head of the COVID-19 transport command post.

“I went months without going home. I missed my family, but I knew that if I went near them, I’d put them at risk. I swear we went through some very sad times there. On the other end of the phone, we received people’s pain and despair. We heard the screams of a father driven mad by his son’s critical condition, and that’s not something you get over easily…

“We became a family there. Our priority was to ensure that people reached hospitals and evacuation centers as quickly as possible. We were well aware of the oxygen shortage and the looming mortality rate.

“We mourned the dead, even though we didn’t know them, because we were with their families, because we oversaw their transfers. When life gets very hard and complicated, as it is right now, I always think back to that time and the lessons it taught us—about how important health is above all material things.”

The current head of the Nursing Department of the Public Health System in Las Tunas recalls moments from the pandemic that left a lasting mark on her as a nurse and as a person.

“On one of those days when the weight of responsibility was too much, I missed my family terribly and was worried about my children, I received a call that set me on the right path. It was the father of a child who had asked for help a few weeks earlier because his little boy had become very ill. We did everything we could in the shortest time possible. The child was hospitalized immediately, and his father called to thank us.

“He spoke very little and started crying. He kept saying thank you, thank you… How sad! Those moments were what gave us the courage we needed. I’ll also tell you that during that time I gained another son, a boy from the medical-psycho-pedagogical center who was sick; our closeness brought him into my life, and he’ll never leave it.”

A VOCATION CLOSE TO HER HEART

She tells me that ever since she was a child, she played at being a nurse. She would line up her toys in an imaginary row and spend hours saving their lives with disposable syringes and pretend instruments. She wanted a white uniform and got one soon after, in the middle school nursing club.

“That’s where I knew for sure that this would be my profession, although I also had another passion. From a very young age, I worked as a broadcaster at Radio Nuevitas, first as an amateur, and later as a professional announcer. I spent my childhood in Nuevitas. Living surrounded by the sea changes your life, but Las Tunas welcomed me with open arms. Today I always say that my roots are shared.”

When it came time to decide her path, while still at the pre-vocational institute that had welcomed her, she chose nursing and had a demanding career as a delivery room supervisor, a surgical unit supervisor, and a nursing supervisor.

Her first internationalist mission took her to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, where she has fond memories that always make her feel proud. There she grew as a nurse and witnessed firsthand the impact of Cuban medical collaboration.

The loss of her father brought her back to Cuba and led her to settle in this province, to be closer to her mother.

A NEW CHAPTER

“I’m starting at Ernesto Guevara Hospital with the same dedication that has always defined me. I have a philosophy: we’re here to support the patient, to put a hand on their shoulder, to listen… That presence is just as powerful as medication.

“Sensitivity must define the nursing staff. We deal with many people every day, and we have our own problems too, but the white uniform is a reminder that we must put the patient above all else.”

“I went on a mission to Haiti, I was in the United Arab Emirates, I worked on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic… now I serve as head of the Nursing Department at the General Directorate of Health, but I love patient care—that is my true calling.”

…
Jhonays proudly tells me that her daughter followed in her footsteps and now wears white, championing the profession amid the whirlwind of “Guevara.” She says her strength lies in the beautiful family that has allowed her to fulfill herself as a professional.

Those who know her understand that these few lines cannot fully capture the depth of a woman who lives her calling every day and drives it forward in every situation. She also passes on the lessons of a well-lived career to the younger generations. Yet she continues to be seen by the patient’s side, alert, ensuring that life prevails and that tomorrow can be celebrated.