My name is Sierra. I am writing on behalf of my sister, Heather, and my brother-in-law, Maynor.

Maynor is 42 years old. He was born in Guatemala, where he grew up living with his parents and his 8 siblings. Life in Guatemala was difficult. He came to the United States 22 years ago for a chance at a better life. While here in the United States, he has been able to build a family. Maynor lost both of his parents back in Guatemala since he has been in the United States. He lost his father almost 14 years ago to the same disease he is currently facing. His father died a year and a half after being placed on dialysis. For almost 20 years, Maynor has been a part of our family. He is the most hard working, giving man. He does everything that he can to be able to provide for my sister and their five children. Maynor works from sun up to sun down on cars. He is a mechanical guru.

For the past four years, Maynor has been fighting a battle with kidney failure. His kidneys are currently functioning at only 7.9%. This puts him in end stage kidney failure. He has had to go to the emergency room this weekend, and will be placed on emergency dialysis on Monday, February 14th. His kidney specialists have basically told the family that he will be on dialysis until he gets a transplant, if he is ever able to do that. Here comes the most difficult obstacle.

Maynor's being an immigrant is detrimental to his diagnosis. There are various reasons as to why he is unable to receive insurance, or be placed on the UNOS Organ Transplant list. Therefore, the doctors have basically told the family that if we are able to find a match for him, which we haven't even started yet, no medical facility will even do an organ transplant without 100% payment up front. We are most likely looking at $100,000 minimum, coming as soon as we find a donor match. Currently, however, we are trying to raise funds just to help with the emergency room bills and other medical costs that are related to current treatment and testing for a donor match, as well as loss of income from being unable to work and provide for the family.

Due to being uninsured, Maynor's dialysis will have to take place through the hospital emergency room. When dialysis is administered this way, the tube connected to the dialyzer is placed directly into a valve in his heart. If he had insurance or money to get dialysis through a treatment center, the tube could instead be placed in his arm, rather than directly into his heart. The hospital is planning to keep him admitted until a social worker is able to look at his case and see if he will potentially be able to receive any treatment outside of the hospital. They are not going to release him before they have that information, because by keeping him admitted in the hospital, they are able to insure that he is getting the life saving treatment he needs.

We are desperate for help. My sister and their five children need him to survive this. We are willing to do everything we can. All donations help. Sharing our story helps. Prayer helps. Reaching out to us with information that might be helpful, or with other doctors or facitities or programs that he might be able to benefit from helps. We need your help.