John Rodrigues - Health Fund

Hello everybody.Some may already know John Rodrigues, loving father of Lorraine & Shane Rodrigues and Grandfather to Kylie Randall. John survives his late wife Cheryl Rodrigues who sadly passed away in 2016. John Rodrigues is the Chairman of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force, who’s goal is to save wildlife in Zimbabwe and Southern Africa. He & Cheryl along with the help of others around the world, have saved many animals & had a hand in changing laws in America when it came to banning wildlife trophies, imports and various hunting bans. I’m raising money to help John get through this difficult time of illness and receive important tests & treatment by medical specialists here in Portugal. I’m here to share my story with you.John Rodrigues has been suffering on and off over the last two years and progressively getting worse. He has positively been tested a number of times over the last 18 months, with an e-coli infection in his blood stream. This has after many antibiotic treatments refused to clear. I will spare the unpleasantries that John has had to endure this far, as it would be to embarrassing for him if I mentioned them here. Initially the tests & scans needed, will get to the bottom of the cause of the infection and hopefully reveal if he is bleeding internally. If the cause can be located, then we can go to phase two of addressing the necessary treatment and operation.This would positively impact his life as he is unable to efficiently work at the moment on issues of wildlife conservation in Africa. This is his passion and he has literally put his life on the line for this cause over the years and substituted his health and even his wealth. John Rodrigues is a wildlife activist who talks up against corrupt government officials, organizations & people. John was classified as unemployable in Zimbabwe, as having him on your payroll would have brought unwanted attention to your business. John was forced to leave Zimbabwe early this year with but a suitcase as it was no longer safe for him to remain living there due to his line of work and the political pressure and numerous attempts on his life, which was constantly put in danger. Unfortunately, John is still unemployed and runs a non profit making organization, being the ZCTF www.zctfofficialsite.org which is dedicated to saving the lives of animals threatened, such as lions, elephants and others that need his help.For example, the first awareness that Cecil the lion was killed by an American dentist, the ongoing saga of elephant exports from Zimbabwe to China and many other endless stories. John Rodrigues has dedicated the better part of life to getting the word out and blowing the whistle, and raising funds for the animals. Not by choice though, he has neglected his financial well being and his personal health. Living in Zimbabwe, like so many others has left him without medical aid as he cannot afford to be on it monthly. Without a pension that he can draw on to sustain a living and no business or job to support him during his time of sickness or at his honorable age of 68. This is the first effort made by me or his family to raise any form of financial assistance to have John attended to medically. John Rodrigues my father in law is an honorable man, always looking out for others. He is the type of man who would literally give you the shirt off his back, even if it were his last. If you happen to be anywhere near the Algarve in Portugal, come and meet him for yourself. He has no income, lives in a small one bedroomed apartment on loan, free of rent for now, by a very generous friend who is paying all his utilities to keep a roof over his head. John and we, his family are so very grateful for this. The move for John from Zimbabwe was expensive and for an unemployed family trying to find its feet in a new land, it will be very difficult (but we will as a family) find a way to cover all his medical expenses.I / we need to raise USD 3 500 initially, to hopefully pay for all tests and place him on an annual medical aid or insurance immediately. Subsequently we will update and make aware here, all of John’s friends and the friends of ZCTF of any additional operation and or treatment costs. It is possible that this initial amount would not achieve everything, but it’s a start.This is why I’ve created a GoFundMe to help cover the rest of the costs that we as the family are struggling raise: [insert GoFundMe link]If we could all support my GoFundMe (John Rodrigues - Health fund) by making a donation and then sharing it with your network, I would greatly appreciate it. I know that money can be tight for all, so please know that even $5 helps me get closer to my goal in helping John Rodrigues! Please Let me know if you have any questions and I’ll be happy to answer them.Sincerely, Gavin Brett RandallE-mail - [email redacted]