Woman dies of cancer after reunion with son
Handout photo of Marta Martinez taken a year ago at the baptism of her daughter. Martinez died in her sleep Friday. Credit: Newsday/Alejandra Villa
A woman who got her last wish - to spend time with the son she hadn't seen for six years - died in her sleep Friday.
Marta Perez Martinez, 31, was wracked by colon cancer and lived just long enough to be reunited with her son, Irvin Vega, 13, her family said.
In 2004, when Irvin was 7, Perez left him with relatives and crossed illegally into the United States to earn money for his food, clothes and school supplies. She settled in Wyandanch but told relatives she'd always felt regret and guilt, even as she sent money home from a job in a paper-products factory.
"Marta suffered terribly, so we believe she's gone to a better place," said a family friend, Valentino Navarrete of Brentwood.
Getting Irvin to Long Island took international diplomacy. Rep. Steve Israel (D-Huntington) pressed the Department of Homeland Security to issue the boy a temporary humanitarian visa, but at first immigration agents said they were deluged by requests from Haitian earthquake victims.
The Perez family's hopes were crushed when Mexican authorities said they could allow the boy to leave the country only with his father's permission.
Irvin is not in touch with his father.
A Mexican government spokesman said Mexico cooperated fully with relatives, but the family said Irvin was issued a passport only after the U.S. government insisted it was urgent.
Even as a plane was about to depart from the Mexico City airport Monday night, Irvin was detained at the immigration counter with paperwork. One of Israel's aides had to call a U.S. consular officer in Mexico, who demanded that the boy be allowed to board.
The drama didn't end there. After Irvin landed at Kennedy Airport, relatives rushed him to Good Shepherd Hospice in Port Jefferson, where he had a tearful reunion with his mother. In a halting voice just above a whisper, she begged forgiveness. "I abandoned you . . . in order to give you a better life," she said.
Irvin held on to his mother and repeatedly cried out, "I love you so much."
Four hours later, she went into a coma. She never woke up.
Perez was "thrilled" to see her son Tuesday afternoon, said a cousin, Rodolfo Diaz Martinez of Farmingdale.
"For a day before he arrived, she wasn't able to speak, and it's like she was saving her strength," said Rodolfo's wife, Leticia.
While living in Wyandanch, Perez got married and had a daughter. Irvin met his 18-month-old half-sister this week.
The family has not made funeral arrangements, said Perez's husband, Juan Martinez. "We're just trying to get through today."
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'It's definitely a destination' NewsdayTV's Doug Geed takes us "Out East," and shows us the Long Island Aquarium, a comfort food restaurant in Baiting Hollow, a Riverhead greenhouse and Albert Einstein's connections to the East End.
