Shafted by Radio Shack

My loyal sister Audrey worked for the Radio Shack corporate office for over 30 years and came to be respected and trusted by everyone she came in contact with while she was there. She did everything a responsible person should do by working hard and purchasing all of the insurance that she could afford.  This was all well and good until   Audrey lost her job in a round of layoffs on May 31 while she was on life support.

See, a couple of weeks earlier,  she went to the hospital with some symptoms that she didn't know were caused by Non-Hogkins Lymphoma.  She received her first round of chemo and shortly thereafter everything went haywire. She suffered a perforated stomach  that nearly killed her, which led to a massive sepsis infection. All of her major organs shut down as her body reeled from the shock.  Audrey made it through the life-saving surgery and is off of all of the machines now, but still has a long way to go before they can even think about treating her cancer.

If all of that wasn't enough of a burden,  despite the initial promise of being able to keep her insurance through COBRA, there is no COBRA for their laid-off employees. That means no insurance for anyone. And since she was initially advised that the ex-employees would receive COBRA benefits, we did not hit a critical window of opportunity to purchase insurance in enough time to get her coverage for what she is going through now. This is leaving her with no insurance to cover her for the in-patient rehab he needs to get back on her feet. In addition, she lost her sick days, personal days and vacation days she earned because of how Radio Shack handled this downsizing.

The whole thing makes us so angry!! Oh, and even though Audrey didn't love to broadcast it, her husband had been out of work for a long time.  The good news is that he is working now,  however his insurance doesn't kick in for a while longer. This truly could not have timed out any worse for them. We are facing weeks in the hospital and months in rehab with very few resources. 

The insurance available to Audrey through the open market (Obamacare) will only cover a small portion of what the cost is for the rehab center leaving $250 PER DAY  plus $1 per minute of physical therapy as an out of pocket cost and several months of rehab to get back on her feet. We have investigated many many options and there is simply no good solution for someone in her position.

We are crushed at the response from Radio Shack whose general retort has been, “So sue us”. Audrey sincerely believed that paying into the insurance plan for her entire career would provide support when she needed it the most. She could never have predicted that she’d find herself fighting cancer while unemployed, uninsured and on her own completely.

 Even though we hate to ask, we'd appreciate it if you could help her out with a cash donation to support her in rehab. Any amount would be appreciated.  

Even if you are unable to assist financially, a prayer or any of the other love or healing energy you can send her way is also appreciated.

Thank you for all of your support!

UPDATE:  Thanks to all of you for sharing Audrey's story as often as you did.  Because of the social media pressure they received, Radio Shack found someone to put through the paperwork for Audrey so that she had access to ONE MONTH of  coverage. Thank you for your help!!  We still have so far to go to help  fund rehab so your support, as it was only a single month and Audrey is facing several months of care which will be followed by chemotherapy. Your ongoing love, prayers, energy and shares will help us so much! Thank you.