The Irreparable Departure of Doctor Leonardo Rodríguez Tápanes

Two months have passed since Doctor of Pediatric Surgery Leonardo Rodríguez Tápanes departed toward another dimension. But his imprint will always remain in every space of the Eliseo Noel Caamaño Pediatric Hospital, which he assumed as that place to which he dedicated his existence and professional sleepless nights.

They say he was a serious man until he had to attend to a little one. Then he became a kind of big child full of tenderness when treating patients. He transformed instantly; every word and gesture was pure love and understanding.

It was great fortune for our institution that that graduate in Medicine in the Cuban capital in the late sixties decided on the specialty of Pediatric Surgery.

After assuming several responsibilities in health centers in municipalities such as Pedro Betancourt and Jovellanos, he would arrive at the Pediatric Hospital to establish an unbreakable bond beyond physical existence itself.

There were so many cases that demanded his scientific wisdom, the complex surgeries in which he participated, that such a close relationship emerged that Leonardo became one of those indispensable elements that it seems were born into the world to be part, for eternity, of this hospital.

His name is printed in many papers and research works to which he dedicated his knowledge. He was part of several transcendental moments related to pediatric surgery where the knowledge and professionalism of Matanzas physicians were held very high.

He contributed to the formation of several generations of doctors who today feel the void before the departure of the Master.

His wife Beatriz Medina still does not have the courage to open that drawer where hundreds of diplomas and recognitions rest. Her tears surface easily at the mere evocation of the immense man with whom she shared almost 45 years of marriage.

His children also carry the pain inside of not being able to hear, once again, their father’s voice.

The hallways and wards of the Pediatric Hospital also remained a little orphaned. Certain buildings come to life and assume the energy of those integral and dedicated people who walked every inch of the edifice, where they deposited their yearnings, passions, and sweat, and more than a few tears, for almost five decades.

Every morning, during his working life, he covered the distance that separated Versalles from the health center where he worked. He undertook the Compostela hill with a commitment that seemed almost a priesthood.

He had retired two years ago, but his home continued functioning as a kind of emergency room where neighbors came before any discomfort. He always received everyone with the same dedication that defined him throughout his life.

In some moments of leisure, when he fed the birds he so appreciated at home, his mind surely traveled to those moments where a complex surgery demanded his tenacity and knowledge — his widow Beatriz knows this well.

For many at the Children’s Hospital, Leonardo Rodríguez, the great pediatric surgeon, will remain forever, because there are departures that are never fully completed.

His image, his dedication, everything he represented, and every recovered child are faithful proof that death is not true when the work of life has been well fulfilled, as Martí stated.