Milivi Adams
Encyclopedia
Milivi Adams was a young cancer
patient from the island of Vieques in Puerto Rico
who had become a symbol in the battle against the presence of the military on that island. Her face had appeared many times on the covers of Puerto Rican
newspaper
s and magazine
s, and there are posters with her picture on them on many of Vieques' street corners.
Milivi was diagnosed with cancer at the age of two, and a high level of foreign chemicals were found in her blood. Many people have blamed the military's bomb testings in Vieques as the source of those chemicals, although conclusive scientific evidence for that opinion is still outstanding.
When she was three, she was given a month to live, but she survived that, and her cancer seemed to be in remission. However, at the age of four, cancer reappeared, this time in her brain. She was flown to the United States
by her parents, in hopes that treatment would help her.
In the United States, she had to fight other infections, and after the last one, the doctors told her parents that her body would not resist another infection treatment, so she returned to Puerto Rico with her family, where she died on the morning of November 17, 2002.
Milivi has a camp named after her in Vieques, Camp Milivi.
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
patient from the island of Vieques in Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
who had become a symbol in the battle against the presence of the military on that island. Her face had appeared many times on the covers of Puerto Rican
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
s and magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
s, and there are posters with her picture on them on many of Vieques' street corners.
Milivi was diagnosed with cancer at the age of two, and a high level of foreign chemicals were found in her blood. Many people have blamed the military's bomb testings in Vieques as the source of those chemicals, although conclusive scientific evidence for that opinion is still outstanding.
When she was three, she was given a month to live, but she survived that, and her cancer seemed to be in remission. However, at the age of four, cancer reappeared, this time in her brain. She was flown to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
by her parents, in hopes that treatment would help her.
In the United States, she had to fight other infections, and after the last one, the doctors told her parents that her body would not resist another infection treatment, so she returned to Puerto Rico with her family, where she died on the morning of November 17, 2002.
Milivi has a camp named after her in Vieques, Camp Milivi.