Thirst quencher

Dr. Alejandro de Quesada had $5 in his pocket when he left Cuba in 1959.

He had no other possessions, not even extra clothes. The Cuban government made sure of that when they strip-searched de Quesada at the airport before he left. His family stayed behind in Cuba, in the early days of Fidel Castro's rule. “(The regime) wanted me to sign a document that said I agreed with what they were doing,” recalls de Quesada about the communist takeover effort. “I refused to sign it. I decided to come to the States.”

A young kidney disease doctor who treated patients in Cuba for two years, a position awaited de Quesada at D.C. General Hospital. He would go on to practice and teach medicine for 40 years. He helped start the medical school at the University of South Florida and he co-founded the Lifelink Foundation of Florida, which facilitates organ and tissue donations.