Cancer & Medevacs in a Covid World
In May, while stranded on the most remote island in the world during the Covid crisis, my mom discovered she has a rare, incurable & aggressive form of blood cancer called Plasma Cell Leukemia (PCL) that required immediate life saving treatment and ultimately an emergency medical evacuation.
On April 4th while attempting to cross the south Atlantic Ocean on their home and sailing vessel of 22 years; Tao 8, my parents Angie, Larry & my sister Celeste (who had joined them in February as crew for the voyage) became stranded on a tiny United Kingdom island of just 4,000 people called St. Helena, their stop between Namibia & Brazil.
While crossing to St. Helena, covid exploded globally & upon their arrival, they were quarantined on board Tao 8 for 15 days, after 12 days at sea. Once they were allowed on land, my mom started feeling some minor fatigue, which soon grew to an extremely elevated heart rate, loss of appetite & breathlessness from even the tiniest amount of physical exertion.
She was immediately admitted to hospital & given an emergency blood transfusion to stabilize her condition, as the doctors were afraid she would suffer heart failure. Needing a rare B- blood type meant canvassing the island for the few live donors they were able to find, including Celeste who also has B- blood. A bone marrow sample was taken, & sent to South Africa on the only, monthly supply ship for analysis, which meant at least 3 weeks before getting results.
My parents’ insurance company deemed Johannesburg SA to have the closest adequate private hospital for shockingly expensive treatment, unfortunately agreeing to only cover the cost of a medevac to SA under the policy, & wanting to send only my mother. This decision was despite counsel by a SA Hematologist that they couldn't offer her proper care there, & that Canada (with our free & advanced healthcare) was her best chance for survival and recovery.
Under normal circumstances, a Medevac can be organized in 3 days. We spent 5 gruelling weeks constantly back & forth between insurance, medevacs, hospitals, airports, governments & embassies, along with medical doctors & specialists in South Africa, after weeks of waiting for a diagnosis. The medevac planes had to stop 5 times for re-fueling, so special permits & permission were needed from each country, with airports all closed due to Covid and lockdowns.
Unfortunately, the insurance will only cover what the cost would have been to medevac her to hospital in South Africa, that cost being $55,000 USD ($74,784 CAD). A medevac to Canada was $148,000 USD ($201,237 CAD).
The difference for the medevac had to be paid up front, or the plane would not be sent, so Mike had to transfer $126,000 CAD in order for the plane to be sent to get them. We don’t yet have the hospital bill from St Helena, but are estimating it around $25,000 - $35,000 CAD.
The decision to pay to bring mom home to family for care, instead of being stranded alone in SA until next year due to covid & airport lockdowns, was a no brainer. Faced with my sister's insistence that they must not be separated in these uncertain times, they finally agreed to also medevac my Dad.
My parents landed in Toronto Monday June 29th & were met by an ambulance & taken directly to the Oakville Trafalgar Hospital, where mom was separated & quarantined for two weeks, while Dad & I were quarantined at Celeste's house.
Unable to join them on the air ambulance, Celeste was left stranded along with Tao 8 on St Helena, with no outbound flights. When borders & airports open, she will continue sailing my parents boat with a hired Captain for the long journey to safety in Trinidad, as leaving the boat indefinitely in St Helena is not an option.
My folks are selfless, courageous, & not inclined to ask for help. My Mom would rather refuse treatment than put her family in debt, but you can bet they would give the shirt off their back, or last morsel of food if someone else was in need.
If you can spare a few dollars, every little bit will help and be so appreciated. If you can’t, maybe you can share their incredible story with others.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
We will continue to update this page, now that testing is done and treatment is being started.
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My mom and dad have been living on their 38 foot sailboat, TAO 8, for the last 22 years, following their dream of sailing frugally around the world and exploring as many cultures as possible. They were on the last leg of their epic journey and only a few months away from finally circumnavigating the globe.
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My parents are two of the most inspiring people I have ever known. They raised Celeste and I with a passion for the outdoors, travel & music. We were told that the only thing that mattered was our happiness, not the job we held, money, nor material possessions, but following our heart and living life to the fullest. They led by the most ultimate example.
In fall of 1998, they sold our family home in Ontario, sold or gave away most of the contents, and at the age of 48, left for the biggest adventure of their lives
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In the last 22 years they have sailed more than 75,000 Nautical Miles, visited 62 countries & always strove to seek out the true culture & heritage of each place, avoiding touristy areas & trying to learn about the heritage & history of each individual culture.
They have explored the Virgin Islands, Trinidad & Tobago & Venezuela.
They have sailed through the Panama Canal, left their boat in Ecuador to backpack through Columbia, Peru, Chile & Bolivia.
They have been to Machu Picchu & journeyed to Lake Titicaca in the Andes on the border of Bolivia & Peru called “the highest navigable lake in the world”.
They visited The Galapagos Islands in Ecuador, eventually sailing west to the South Pacific.
They have been adopted by a small village of about 50 natives on one island in the Cook Islands, where they spent 4 months in harmony with the community there, teaching what they could (Dad is a biologist & discovered there were edible plants & roots on the island that they were not aware of!) & learning various things themselves like fishing for lobster & how to find pearls in oysters!
They have been to Bora Bora, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, NZ, Australia, New Caledonia, Indonesia, Bali, Malaysia & Singapore.
They have crossed the Singapore Strait 3 times, amongst the busiest freighter traffic in the world & backpacked around Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand & Japan. They sailed from Northern Thailand to Southern India, trekked in the Himalayan mountains of Nepal, then sailed to The Seychelles, Madagascar and did a 5 day Safari in Tanzania, Africa.
From there to Durban, South Africa & then all the way around the Cape Of Good Hope to Cape Town (where Celeste joined them), north to Namibia & then west to St. Helena which is where they were stranded since April 4th, 2020.
Honestly, there’s no way to even touch upon a fraction of their adventures & accomplishments without writing a goddamn novel.
