Lifesaving Covid ICU Treatment for My Korean Mom
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Korean son separated from his mother for 2 years, only to be reunited at the ICU bed
TLDR: My mother has been hospitalised with Covid-19 and now faces life-threatening kidney failure and blood infection. With no alternatives, she has been moved to a private ICU with no financial aid or insurance. After 2 years apart, I still hope to be reunited with her at the hospital bed. Any excess funds will go toward kidney and/or Covid-19 relief charities.
Dear community and friends,
We ask for your help in time of desperate need - we would like to share my mother’s critical medical condition brought on by COVID-19 and are reaching out to you for help. I am an only son and we are a small South Korean family of 3, with both retired parents residing in Malaysia while I am working thousands of miles away in the UK.
Stranded in public hospital with ICUs unavailable - Despite being double-vaccinated, my mother was hospitalised with COVID-19 in Malaysia on 18 August. Due to severe hospitalisation rates in the country, she was admitted to a regular ward in a public hospital with limited access to critical care. After several days, a severe gastrointestinal bleed led to life-threatening complications, including acute liver and kidney damage resulting in urgent intubation and blood transfusion in a non-Intensive Care Unit setting. The doctors advised that she needed immediate ICU access, but despite profusely calling all hospitals across the country every day, we were unable to locate an ICU bed for her, and doctors had no choice but to keep her on life support in a normal hospital ward.
Severe Covid-19 complications - Due to acute kidney injury, she urgently required dialysis in an ICU setting. So 6 days after keeping her in a normal ward, we were forced to move her into a private hospital ICU on 27 August, where she is currently being treated for kidney failure and severe bacterial infection. Both illnesses were completely unforeseen collateral damage from COVID-19, and doctors advise that her life continues to remain critical and we now face a prolonged ICU stay for at least 2 more weeks with long-term damage to her kidneys requiring regular dialysis.
Uncapped & extortionate private care fees - Upon admission, we were informed that treatment would cost around £17,000 / $24,000. But as the diagnosis progressed, her interim medical bill was already near this sum for 4 days of ICU admission. Furthermore, we are now being harassed by the hospital to post additional deposit for her treatment on a day-by-day basis. Based on the latest estimate, the hospital is pointing toward a final bill in the £44,000 / $60,000 area, versus an initial estimate that was wildly inaccurate and misleading. The Malaysian government refuses to provide any form of financial aid for COVID-19 patients in private hospitals. The hospital further highlighted that given my mother’s foreigner status, no form of financial aid would apply to her.
Marginalised by healthcare industry discrimination - Because of my mother’s underlying medical conditions, she was uninsured upon hospital admission. As she lives abroad and is considered a foreigner, she has no access to public funds both in Malaysia and Korea. As both my parents are retired, I have continuously provided monthly financial support to both of them from the UK over the last few years. We have reached out and implored to my mother's family, but to no avail.
Our last chance - We now have no choice but to turn our hopes and prayers to the crowdfunding community. I have not seen my mother in 2 years, and hospital visits are legally banned under current regulation. My last photo of her is her lying on an A&E bed before she was hospitalised and isolated from the outside world. So please, help us give my mother the care she needs and deserves so she can recover; help us give my mother the fighting chance to be reunited with us again; help us be together again.
TLDR: My mother has been hospitalised with Covid-19 and now faces life-threatening kidney failure and blood infection. With no alternatives, she has been moved to a private ICU with no financial aid or insurance. After 2 years apart, I still hope to be reunited with her at the hospital bed. Any excess funds will go toward kidney and/or Covid-19 relief charities.
Dear community and friends,
We ask for your help in time of desperate need - we would like to share my mother’s critical medical condition brought on by COVID-19 and are reaching out to you for help. I am an only son and we are a small South Korean family of 3, with both retired parents residing in Malaysia while I am working thousands of miles away in the UK.
Stranded in public hospital with ICUs unavailable - Despite being double-vaccinated, my mother was hospitalised with COVID-19 in Malaysia on 18 August. Due to severe hospitalisation rates in the country, she was admitted to a regular ward in a public hospital with limited access to critical care. After several days, a severe gastrointestinal bleed led to life-threatening complications, including acute liver and kidney damage resulting in urgent intubation and blood transfusion in a non-Intensive Care Unit setting. The doctors advised that she needed immediate ICU access, but despite profusely calling all hospitals across the country every day, we were unable to locate an ICU bed for her, and doctors had no choice but to keep her on life support in a normal hospital ward.
Severe Covid-19 complications - Due to acute kidney injury, she urgently required dialysis in an ICU setting. So 6 days after keeping her in a normal ward, we were forced to move her into a private hospital ICU on 27 August, where she is currently being treated for kidney failure and severe bacterial infection. Both illnesses were completely unforeseen collateral damage from COVID-19, and doctors advise that her life continues to remain critical and we now face a prolonged ICU stay for at least 2 more weeks with long-term damage to her kidneys requiring regular dialysis.
Uncapped & extortionate private care fees - Upon admission, we were informed that treatment would cost around £17,000 / $24,000. But as the diagnosis progressed, her interim medical bill was already near this sum for 4 days of ICU admission. Furthermore, we are now being harassed by the hospital to post additional deposit for her treatment on a day-by-day basis. Based on the latest estimate, the hospital is pointing toward a final bill in the £44,000 / $60,000 area, versus an initial estimate that was wildly inaccurate and misleading. The Malaysian government refuses to provide any form of financial aid for COVID-19 patients in private hospitals. The hospital further highlighted that given my mother’s foreigner status, no form of financial aid would apply to her.
Marginalised by healthcare industry discrimination - Because of my mother’s underlying medical conditions, she was uninsured upon hospital admission. As she lives abroad and is considered a foreigner, she has no access to public funds both in Malaysia and Korea. As both my parents are retired, I have continuously provided monthly financial support to both of them from the UK over the last few years. We have reached out and implored to my mother's family, but to no avail.
Our last chance - We now have no choice but to turn our hopes and prayers to the crowdfunding community. I have not seen my mother in 2 years, and hospital visits are legally banned under current regulation. My last photo of her is her lying on an A&E bed before she was hospitalised and isolated from the outside world. So please, help us give my mother the care she needs and deserves so she can recover; help us give my mother the fighting chance to be reunited with us again; help us be together again.
Organizer
Seongwoo Lee
Organizer
England