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Mom detained in Cuba after son, 3, killed in scooter accident

Justine Davis and her son, Cameron.

A Mississauga mother fears she’ll miss her own her three-year-old son’s funeral because she’s being detained in Cuba after the traffic accident that claimed his life more than six weeks ago.

Justine Davis and her son, Cameron, were on a scooter that collided with a truck near a resort in Cayo Largo on Dec. 23.

They were offered the scooter after returning a rental jeep early.

Both were wearing helmets at the time and Davis said everything seemed perfectly safe, with Cameron seated in front of her.

“It seemed fine, we were on pretty much a deserted island…it’s a really small island, it wasn’t a busy city street,” she said.

Just minutes into their ride they collided with an industrial sized truck on an unpaved patch of a two-lane road. Both were thrown from the scooter.

Cameron died at the scene and Davis was rushed to hospital in Havana, where she remains.

She’s since had “five or six surgeries” and has an open wound on her leg that has become infected.

“I had compound fractures, multiple contusions,” she told CityNews.ca.

But it’s not those injuries that prevent her from returning home – Cuban authorities won’t let her leave until their investigation into the crash is complete.

Cameron’s remains were returned to Toronto and his funeral is set for Saturday afternoon.

Davis is “doubtful” she’ll be there.

“(The Canadian Embassy said) it could be months, years, they don’t know,” she explained from her hospital bed on Wednesday. “And they don’t really have an influence or an opinion about the length of time or how the process works. It seems like they are just as in the dark as I am.”

“The hospital has told me many times that my injuries aren’t keeping me from travelling. It’s the immigration hold due to the legal circumstances.”

And her legal situation is murky at best. She hasn’t been charged with a crime, but communication with Cuban authorities has been problematic.

They (Cuban authorities) won’t give an update,” she complained. “The (Canadian) embassy was even trying to contact them and they’ve been hung up on by the police. They won’t give me anything.”

“As Canadians I think we assume that we are protected and the rights we have in Canada are carried out where we go, but it’s not the case. It’s scary.”

“I just think people need to know the risks that are involved when you travel here.”

She’s now hoping media attention will help expedite her return home – hopefully in time to bury her son.

“My son was very happy, very good. He’s active and just very calm,” she explains through whimpers. “He was perfect.”