Last year, I suffered a heart attack that completely changed my life. What started as an emergency room visit quickly turned into a 12-day hospital stay—eight of those days spent in the ICU under sedation and on a breathing machine. The doctors told me later that I gave them quite a scare. After my first quadruple bypass and open-heart surgery, complications arose, and I had to be transferred to another hospital with more advanced equipment. I was unconscious for most of this ordeal and woke up in a completely different hospital than where I started. This year, one of the artery grafts failed, and I needed another major procedure to have a stent placed. Thankfully, they didn’t have to open me up again, but the experience was still overwhelming.

All of these medical emergencies have left my family and me buried under a mountain of debt. I’ve exhausted every resource I could—taking out personal loans, borrowing from my 401k, and paying medical bills with credit cards. These were only stop-gap measures, and now the debt is still there, just in different and sadly high-interest forms. My parents are deceased, and my wife’s family lives in the Philippines and cannot help. We’ve always worked hard and lived frugally, but now we’re at the point where we may have to choose between paying debts and covering essentials like rent, food, and utilities.

As much as I hate asking for help, we need financial support to get rid of this medical debt. Please help us pay down this debt stemming from my medical needs. Even if you can’t donate, sharing my story would mean the world to us. My family and I would be eternally grateful for any support. You’d be helping us not just avoid financial ruin, but also regain a sense of hope and stability. Thank you for reading and for any kindness you can offer.