Aid for Chiqui's Life-Saving Heart Surgery

Hi everyone, my name is Carlos Pellitero. I am here to humbly request help for my childhood friend/brother Bert Murguido aka “Chiqui”. We need donations to help offset the cost of his Open-Heart Surgery that has left him on Life Support.

Chiqui and I have been friends since the third grade along with Phil, and Armando, going on 53 years. Anyone who knows him knows he is a stand-up guy. He is a man of faith, morals, and great values, and is a father to 3 daughters who he thinks the world of and are his princesses.

Chiqui had been working in a management position in the car business for years. This business has been especially hard hit by this economy. Unfortunately, in March 2024 he was let go, leaving him in the tough position of having to find a new job in a tough economy. After 6 months of searching, he was finally able to secure a new job. The new job was short-lived, lasting only two months, this time involuntarily terminated due to an unjust set of circumstances that were out of his control. This left him and his family without Medical Insurance. Simultaneously during this time, he lost his home. It was a perfect storm of disaster followed by disaster!!

The resulting stress and frustration were devastating to his health.

On December 3rd he called me on the way to his brother’s house (Jose) complaining of dizziness, lightheadedness, and difficulty breathing. Upon arriving, his brother called 911 which recommended, he be taken to the hospital. He was admitted to a hospital that same night. After 2 days of testing, they found that he had severe blockage in his arteries. On December 6th He and his brother then decided to transfer his care to a different hospital that was better equipped and staffed to attend to his condition. At this hospital, they concluded that his condition was dire enough to require immediate quadruple bypass surgery. Subsequent testing showed that his condition was worse than originally anticipated, so the surgery needed to be postponed. After close monitoring and treatments, the surgery was performed on December 12th.

During the surgery they found that his heart condition was worse than they expected, resulting in a much longer and more complicated surgery, needing 5 artery By-Passes’. They also discovered severe scar tissue on the heart which made the procedure that much more complicated than expected.

The procedure was completed successfully but while in recovery his heart was deemed too weak to sustain his life. He was rushed back into surgery and placed on Full Life Support, in an Induced Coma to try and save his life. Since then, he has undergone two additional surgeries related to his condition but remains on Life Support in Critical Condition. He is now on the Heart Transplant waiting list.

While having lost his job, home, medical coverage and inability to work his brother picked up the financial strain of his initial medical expenses. Now the medical bills are extraordinary and growing more every day, those bills now exhaust the family’s financial ability to pay.

We know that times are hard for everybody now, but we humbly ask for any donation that you can afford to help us through this hour of need.

Thank you and God Bless!