After nearly a month of treatment in a Miami hospital, a Cuban political prisoner who became paralyzed after spending over seven years behind bars in the Communist country will be rejoining his family.
Ariel Sigler, 44, was discharged from Jackson Memorial Hospital Thursday after a month of rehabilitation.
Sigler arrived at Miami International Airport to a hero's welcome on July 28, but was immediately admitted to the hospital. Reports said he had lost as much as 70 pounds during his over seven-year stay in the Cuban prison.
A former boxer, Sigler was among 75 opposition activists rounded up in March 2003 and charged with taking money from Washington to destabilize Cuba's government. Those imprisoned denied the charges, as did U.S. officials.
Sigler was found guilty of treason and sentenced to 25 years behind bars.
But the Castros decided in June to free many of the dissidents, allowing Sigler a chance to get a U.S. visa and come to Miami.
By the time Sigler arrived in Miami, paralysis from the waist down had forced him into a wheelchair, his gaunt frame hardly able to hold the boxing gloves he once wore in the ring. His voice was another matter.
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"Castro is a murderer!" Sigler shouted to the airport crowd in Spanish. "Down with Castro!"
At the airport welcoming, attended by about 100 supporters including Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado, Sigler summed up his feelings on his new-found freedom.
"I feel a mix of happiness and hurt," Sigler said. "Happiness because this is a free country. A country where in reality human rights are respected. Happiness because this beautiful country has taken me in to try to re-establish my health. And hurt because in reality I am a patriot."
Though he's being discharged from the hospital, Sigler will continue to receive outpatient therapy there.
