You can find the English version below.

DEUTSCH:
Was als schöner Besuch bei ihrem Verlobten in Berlin begann, wurde zu einem medizinischen Notfall, der heute ihr Leben aufgrund von Nieren- und Lungenversagen bedroht.

Während ihres Aufenthalts in Deutschland erlitt Parita aufgrund einer Bronchitis ein Lungenversagen, das zweimal zum Lungenkollaps sowie einem vollständigen Nierenversagen führte.
Bei den Untersuchungen in der Intensivstation der Charité Berlin Mitte wurde festgestellt, dass sie von Geburt an nur eine Niere besitzt, die auch noch zu klein ist – ohne dass sie jemals davon wusste. Sie hatte einen sportlichen sowie bewussten Lebensstil und war stets bei bester Gesundheit. Die Ärzte sagten uns, dass sie sehr wahrscheinlich nicht überlebt hätte, wenn sie auch nur einen Tag später ins Krankenhaus gekommen wäre.

Parita leidet an Nierenversagen im Endstadium (Stufe 5/5). Sie benötigt dauerhaft alle zwei Tage Dialyse und wartet auf eine mögliche Nierentransplantation, da ausgeschlossen ist, dass die Funktion ihrer eigenen Niere jemals wieder ausreichend hergestellt werden kann.
Nach ihrer Rückkehr nach Bangkok geht der Kampf weiter. Sie kann momentan nicht arbeiten und braucht weiterhin regelmäßige Behandlungen und medizinische Versorgung. Allein die Krankenhauskosten in Deutschland liegen bei rund 30.000 €. Die Reisekrankenversicherung übernimmt nur einen Teil davon. Dazu kommen die laufenden Kosten für Dialyse (alle zwei Tage 125,- Euro) Behandlungen, Medikamente, Fahrten, Lebenshaltungskosten und die weitere Versorgung in Thailand.

Zurzeit wird geprüft, ob ihre Mutter oder ihr Bruder als Spender infrage kommen könnten. Sollte eine Transplantation möglich werden, entstehen weitere hohe Kosten für Untersuchungen, Reisen, Unterkunft und die Operation. Die Kosten der Operation liegen aktuell bei ungefähr 1,8 Millionen THB, umgerechnet ca. 48.000€. Inzwischen sind bereits alle Kreditkarten vollständig ausgeschöpft und wir schaffen es nicht mehr alleine. Mit Hilfe der Go Fund Me Kampagne möchten wir Parita die Chance geben, ihre Behandlung fortzusetzen und hoffentlich zeitnah die lebensrettende Transplantation zu bekommen, die sie braucht. Jede Unterstützung hilft uns – wenn ihr nicht spenden könnt, hilft auch das Teilen unserer Geschichte. Vielen Dank für eure Zeit, das hier zu lesen.

Heike und Steven


ENGLISH:
What started as a joyful visit to her fiancé in Berlin turned into a medical crisis that is now threatening her life. Hello, my name is Heike, and today I am asking for help for my son Steven and his fiancée Parita. Parita suffered lung failure and now lives with end-stage kidney failure.

She urgently needs lifelong dialysis while waiting for a possible kidney transplant. We can no longer go through this situation alone, and we have no way to manage the overwhelming hospital costs in Germany and Thailand without help. We have tried many different ways to find support, but unfortunately nothing has worked so far. GoFundMe has become our last hope.

My son Steven has loved traveling to Thailand for many years. In January 2024, he met Parita in Bangkok, and they fell deeply in love. Their love was so strong that they continued their long-distance relationship over the past two and a half years. They traveled back and forth whenever possible and spent many hours on video calls when they were apart. In January 2025, they got engaged and started planning their future together. They had serious plans to get married and start a small family one day. Her last visit to Berlin started beautifully. She arrived just in time for Steven’s birthday in December. They celebrated Christmas together with the family. Unfortunately, during Christmas both of them became sick with bronchitis. While Steven slowly recovered, Parita continued to feel unwell. They visited a doctor, but unfortunately the diagnosis was wrong, and the antibiotics did not help, which made her condition worse. Parita tried to stay strong and kept saying everything was fine. She didn’t want to worry anyone. But slowly, her condition worsened. Steven noticed that her stomach and legs were getting bigger, not realizing that this could be a warning sign of something much more serious. Her breathing became noisy, and she was having more problems breathing.

On February 8th, her health declined dramatically, and Parita finally agreed to go to the hospital. From that moment on, everything happened very quickly. After arriving at a nearby hospital, she was immediately transferred to Charité Berlin Mitte and admitted to intensive care because she was suffering from lung failure and life threatening blood values.

During the examinations, the doctors discovered that Parita only has one kidney, and that kidney is too small and began finally failing after the infection. She must have been born with this condition and never knew about it. She had never been seriously ill in her life before, and the bronchitis ultimately triggered her kidney to fail. The doctors reacted quickly and started the first continuous dialysis for 86 hours because her blood results showed dramatically increased levels. The doctors later told us that if she had arrived just one day later, she probably would not have survived.

Since then, a long and painful medical journey has begun. Parita needed dialysis every two days. Her lungs were seriously affected, and there was a constant risk of them failing again. Sadly, her lungs have already collapsed twice. She had travel insurance during her stay, but the insurance company now claims that she came to Germany intentionally to receive treatment and refuses to pay for the medical costs.
Even if we manage to convince them otherwise, her insurance coverage already ended on March 2rd. The additional 20 days she had to stay in Germany must now be paid privately. Since then, we have tried everything to find help. We contacted lawyers, the hospital welfare department, Caritas, the Ministry of Social Affairs, and the Berlin City Mission. But Parita seems to fall through every system that should normally help people in situations like this. The hospital is also putting increasing pressure on us regarding payment.

After contacting the Thai embassy four times, they finally accepted the case and tried to help find a hospital in Bangkok that could continue her treatment. But even that was unsuccessful. At the moment, the German hospital costs have already reached around €30.000. Because my son had to vouch for Parita in order for her to enter Germany (procedure for a Schengen-Visa), the financial responsibility now falls on his shoulders. Neither of them has any way to pay these hospital bills. Sadly, Parita also has no financial support from her family, which leaves Steven and Parita carrying this responsibility alone. At first, Parita was not allowed to fly back home because there was a high risk that her lungs could collapse during the flight due to pressure changes.

Eventually, the day came when she was stable enough to travel. She was able to leave Germany on March 22nd. Unfortunately, many things went wrong during her journey. She had a layover and had booked assistance, but no one came to help her. She had to walk long distances alone to catch her next flight. She was even unconscious for a while at the airport.

When she finally arrived in Bangkok, she went directly to the hospitals emergency room as planned, as she urgently needed dialysis. The embassy was supposed to contact the Rajavithi hospital, but it seems this did not happen, and her name was not in the system. No one there even knew about her or her case. The doctors initially refused to treat her and did not accept the medical documents from Germany (Charité). They wanted to repeat all tests from the beginning. She was treated poorly and was not strong enough to advocate for herself. There were days when she spent over 8 hours at the hospital without receiving the treatment she urgently needed.

Thailand has a different healthcare system. Patients are usually assigned to a hospital and cannot freely choose one. At the beginning of April, Steven flew to Bangkok to support her, help her navigate the healthcare system, and try to resolve the issues with the insurance company. This made a big difference. He became her voice and managed to get her into the Universal Coverage Scheme (UCS) program in Thailand. Through the UCS program, costs can be reduced once a patient is accepted. However, this means she will need to switch to a different form of dialysis, where a catheter is placed in her abdomen, and she would have to perform dialysis herself at home every 6 hours until she receives a new kidney. Being in the system does not mean she is free from all costs. If something goes wrong or her health declines, she would still have to receive treatment and pay for it herself. If she still want to get her current dialysis (hemo-dialysis) under controlled medical supervision inside the hospital, they need to pay it by themselves in the future (three sessions each week).

Doing peritoneal dialysis every 6 hours at home is not a life anyone should have to live with her age. She would never really be able to go out or even work. She would basically spend years waiting in her apartment, which she can no longer afford by herself, waiting for a donor. Waiting for a kidney donor can take around 4–5 years in Thailand. With her rare blood type, the wait may be even longer. Parita has blood type O negative, one of the rarest blood types worldwide. There are currently discussions about whether her mother or her brother could be potential donors. They will need to go through medical and psychological testing and would need to travel to and live in Bangkok for some time, as her family lives in Khon Kaen (around a 7-hour drive from Bangkok). If her mother is a suitable donor, the process would need to be rushed, as she may become too old for the procedure if they wait longer. However, even getting an appointment for such a procedure can take up to more than one year within the UCS system, so we would need to proceed without it.
If a transplant becomes possible and her mother is allowed to donate her kidney, the operation is expected to cost around 1.8 million THB (approximately €47.000). When Parita left Germany, her kidney function was already at stage 4 out of 5. It has now progressed to stage 5, meaning her kidney is no longer functioning, and there is no chance of restoring any kidney function. We simply want to give her the chance to survive this situation and continue her lifesaving treatment in Thailand.

In her current situation, it is impossible for her to work. She has no way to pay for rent, food, or even transportation to the hospital. All of Steven’s credit cards are already maxed out due to the hospital bills in Germany, the first weeks of dialysis and medical treatments in Bangkok, the urgent flight to Thailand, and covering her rent. If you are able to help us with the growing medical costs, we would be deeply grateful.

Even the smallest donation can make a real difference. If you cannot donate, sharing this story could also help us reach someone who can. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for taking the time to read our story and for any support you can give. All donations will go directly toward hospital bills, dialysis treatments, cost of living and the urgent medical care she needs. Your support will help cover hospital bills in Germany, ongoing dialysis treatments in Thailand, daily living expenses, and the hope of a life-saving kidney transplant. We will continue to update you.

Heike & Steven