Pop Pop Eric's Open Heart Surgery

Family & Friends,

My dad, my children’s BELOVED Pop Pop Eric, needs our help. On May 4th, I got a call at 1 am from my brother informing me that my dad was in the hospital and that he had suffered a heart attack. I felt like I couldn’t breathe or think as I tried to pull myself together to ride out to the hospital.

Unfortunately, my father does not have health insurance. He is a Marine Veteran who served for 20 years as well as a retired Corrections Officer. After retirement my dad tried to get coverage through Veterans Affairs (the VA). However he did not qualify for VA health care benefits because his income was too high. Because of his retirement income he could only get healthcare coverage at exorbitant rates. He is currently 64 and decided to forgo coverage until he turned 65 at which point he could get covered through Medicaid. However, as we now know, things didn't work out as planned.

During his stay at the hospital he had 2 stents placed because he ended up having another heart attack a few hours after the 1st stent was placed. The doctors explained to us that my dad was stable for now, but that he has other blockages to his heart that need to be addressed as soon as possible with a triple bypass heart surgery. I began to make all the contacts that I could to try and get my dad coverage. I made phone calls, I searched the internet, I traversed the hospital speaking to any and every staff member that may be able to help us. We even tried to get private short term coverage but either the providers denied him coverage or they wouldn’t take any claims related to his heart condition for a minimum of 1 year. A year that he doesn’t have.

Whether it’s his weekly McDonald’s dates with his grandchildren, or a trip to Walmart for their favorite treats, my dad is one of the CENTERPIECES to my immediate family. And if you know him or are related to him you know how incredibly generous he is to everyone. He does NOT HESITATE to help someone in need no matter the time of day or the task. He is there for you. Please help us be there for my dad because he deserves it. He is the best man I’ve ever known.

He goes back into the hospital June 6th to prepare for his surgery on June 8th. The cost of open heart surgery can easily be upwards of $200,000. That doesn’t include the cost of the hospital stay, the medicine, the doctor visits, & therapy.

I am humbly asking, pleading even, with our tribe to please consider sharing this link and if possible donating to my dad’s surgery. Literally any amount will help. God Bless you all and thank you for your support!