Basketball Player Leydis Oquendo Dies in El Salvador

October 8, 2022

The president of the Cuban Basketball Federation, Dalia Henry, lamented today the death of her compatriot Leydis Oquendo, an active member of the Caribbean national team.

The Cuban basketball family is very sad. Oquendo was a very charismatic athlete, dedicated and willing to give her best on the court, she said exclusively to Prensa Latina.

The sudden death of the outstanding 40-year-old player in El Salvador was due to complications associated with a recent surgery she underwent to remove a uterine fibroid, specifically a postoperative pulmonary thrombosis.

This news fills Cuban fans and the basketball family with pain.

Born in the central-eastern province of Camagüey, Oquendo just finished her participation in the professional league of that Central American country, where she was the leading scorer in the most recent season.

The Camagüeyan was part of the Cuban national team at the World Championships in 2006 and 2014, among other competitions, and also had excellent results in the leagues of Argentina and the Dominican Republic.

Her former teammate Marlene Cepeda wrote on her social networks that she was not prepared for "such a hard blow." I still can't believe this news because she was so young and it happened so soon, she noted.