A lifelong fisherman, Ventura was diagnosed with Burkitt lymphoma in 2024, a rare form of cancer that attacks the lymphatic system.
During his chemotherapy, he lost 19kg. His whole body felt hot, he says, even inside his mouth.
At 71, Ventura’s neighbour Zaida Torres is recovering from a double mastectomy. Despite her health challenges, she appears cheerful.
Every three weeks, she takes the island’s ferry to Ceiba, a trip that can take 35 minutes to an hour depending on the weather, for medical appointments.
Her son usually picks her up at the dock before driving her to the hospital in Fajardo.
There she will have radiation therapy that can take between four and six hours. Often, she would leave Vieques at 6am, arriving back as late as 1am.
"After a day of chemotherapy, I am devastated, but it is what I have to do," she said.
She and other Viequenses have been left with no other option than to seek life-saving medical care on the main island since their hospital was obliterated by Hurricane Maria in 2017.
Three years later, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) approved $39.5m in funds to build a replacement, but it took another six years for the new health centre to open.
Residents allege that its facilities remain barely functional, as many services that were once available, such as a kidney dialysis unit and a birth centre, still lack staff.
One resident described it as an “emergency room‒, rather than a hospital equipped to provide everyday care.
