BROOKLYN (PIX11)– With his son CJ on his lap, and his mother Cherise wheeling him, Christopher Robinson inched closer to a person he prayed he would see one last time—his older sister Michelle.
They hugged and kissed each other, in a long emotional embrace at the MJHS Hospice, where the 25-year-old married father from Brooklyn is in the final stages of renal cancer.
“After the diagnosis, and told I had two weeks to live, I never thought I would see her again,” said Robinson in a barely audible voice.
“I’m glad I made it this far to see my brother,” said a tearful Michelle Robinson.
The last memories the two have of each other, are as toddlers playing with toys on the beach in Guyana, where Michelle still lives.
When her plane touched down at Kennedy airport Sunday morning, she was on American soil for the first time, greeted by her mom who she hadn’t seen in as long as she hadn’t seen Christopher.
The chances of the siblings reuniting seemed impossible. Michelle was denied a visa to travel to the United States, until PIX 11 News reached out to Senator Chuck Schumer for help.
“There’s no reason why she shouldn’t have gotten a visa easily. But of course, there’s always red tape in the way, and her visa was denied even though her brother was so seriously ill here in the United States,” Senator Schumer said.
The family expressed their gratitude to all involved, including Fly Jamaica which paid for Michelle’s airfare.
“I want to thank PIX for helping me and the U.S. embassy for reviewing my case,” expressed Michelle.
She will spend the next month here, and is free to travel between the United States and Guyana for ten years.
