A Mexican trying to enter the US for a heart and liver transplant has been denied a visa for the second time , he and his family announced Wednesday . Jose Chua Lopez , 20 , has suffered from a heart defect from birth and was hoping to enter the Mayo Clinic in Rochester , Minnesota , where he has an appointment in 10 days . 'My world has fallen down , ' Chua said . 'This needs to be fixed quickly . ' World has fallen : Jose Chua Lopez , 20 , and his mother , Myra Lopez Martinez , said he had been denied a visa for the second time that would have allowed him to seek treatment for heart and liver conditions . His mother , Myra Lopez Martinez , said her son could die if he can not receive the transplants . A spokeswoman for the State Department , Jen Psaki , said people at the department are looking into the case , though the department did not have a comment on Chua 's case . Consejo de Latinos Unidos , which is based in the US where it helps uninsured people secure medical care , stepped in to try to get Chua to the Mayo Clinic . The organization 's director , Kevin Forbes , said the case was mishandled at the US Consulate in the northern city of Hermosillo , where Chua lives . He said that consulate officials processed an application for a tourist visa when they should have told Chua to apply for a humanitarian visa and that they then failed for weeks to respond to queries about his status . 'We have dealt with around two dozen similar international cases , ' Forbes said . 'They have never denied us a visa . It 's the first time this has happened . ' Struggle : Chua 's friends and family raised $ 15,000 to pay for an evaluation leading up to the treatment , and though the operation could millions more , Chua 's mother says they will try . Weakened : Chua 's heart has only one ventricle , which causes circulation problems , and at this point , in spite of several heart surgeries , his liver has also been damaged . Come together : Chua and his family have held fundraisers , such as Coffee for a Life , where several musical acts played to raise money for the treatments . Big hopes : Chua wants to overcome his health problems and hopes to become a doctor . Long road ahead : Chua 's family says the transplant will cost much more , and even as they are looking for help to fund it , they are unsure about how to pay the high cost . Forbes said the family would file a visa application on humanitarian grounds shortly and he hopes the problem will be resolved in two or three days . He called the situation an 'absolute abomination . ' Chua 's heart has only one ventricle , causing circulation problems that mean blood reaches only one of the four chambers , said Dr Ernesto Duarte , who treats him . Chua underwent three open-heart surgeries between the ages of 5 months and 12 years , including a cardiac implant that stopped working properly in 2013 . At this point Chua 's liver has also been damaged , so he needs a double-organ transplant , a procedure that is not performed in his home country . 'The experience in Mexico for a transplant of that complexity is nil , ' Duarte said , adding that 'nobody can be sure that he wo n't deteriorate at any moment . ' The doctor added that in severe cases , not performing the surgery in time can make a transplant impossible later . Chua , whose father is an Arizona resident , had a US visa until he was 15 . But when it expired , his family did n't renew it because they did n't have money to pay for more trips . The family currently lives in a modest , one-story home in a potholed suburb of Hermosillo , capital of Sonora state . He shares a room with his brother . Thin and pale with his body swollen from his condition and marked by scars from his operations , Chua is nevertheless active and optimistic about the future . He dreams of becoming a doctor , even though his health problems have so far made it impossible to attend college , work or stand up for long periods . Family and friends in Hermosillo organized fundraisers , sold tamales , hamburgers and seafood and held raffles to defray the initial cost of his potential treatment at the Mayo Clinic . 'We needed $ 15,000 and we put together a little bit more , just for the evaluation ' said Lopez . 'Afterward , the double transplant would cost around $ 2 million ... For now , I do n't want to think about that . '
de Latinos Unidos , 20 , has an appointment at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester Minnesota in 10 days . The State Department on Tuesday denied his visa , which was reportedly processed as a tourist visa instead of humanitarian visa . Chua has had three open heart surgeries since he was five months old . His liver has been damaged by his poor heart condition and also needs to be transplanted .