COLUMBUS, Ohio, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- An Ohio woman dying of cancer says her mother in Honduras, 79, has been unable to get a U.S. visa for a last visit because officials fear she might stay.
Karla Mellon of Columbus, divorced from a member of the U.S. military, is living in the United States legally with her two sons. She told The Columbus Dispatch she has not seen her mother, Cirila Maldonado, for 13 years because she could not afford the plane fare to Honduras.
Charla Sedziol, a social worker with the Hospice of Central Ohio, said the hospice has already sent Maldonado $500 to help pay fees and other expenses and plans to take care of the plane fare if she can get a visa. The agency has also been in touch with Rep. Pat Tiberi, R-Ohio, and the U.S. Embassy in Honduras.
Maldonado has spent her entire life in Honduras, where she raised eight children on her own after her husband died and juggled multiple jobs.
Mellon, who has ovarian cancer, says she does not understand why her mother can't get a visa.
"My mom is 79. Why is my mom going to leave her comfy home to struggle?" Mellon said. "I understand they want to take precautions, but I think how they did my mom was wrong. Wrong is wrong."
