Leonardo Santos is a beloved husband to Kimberly Cariaga, father to 2-year-old Oliver,  14-year-old Taty, and a loyal friend to many. On Friday, May 29th, 2020,  Leo was having leg and chest pains while watching over his son Oliver. He called his wife and mentioned that she needed to rush home. Shortly after, Leo was brought into Lenox Hill Hospital and had emergency open-heart surgery for aortic dissection in both his ascending and descending aorta. The Doctor mentioned to his wife that it was so enlarged that it almost ruptured and had he waited even 10 minutes longer he would have not made it. About 85%  of patients with this condition die before arriving at the hospital.

They had to replace his aortic valve, reconstructed parts of his ascending aorta with a vein from his leg, and grafts were placed in his descending aorta. The surgery took over 8 hours. After testing positive for COVID-19, Leo was on a ventilator for 8 days.

The timing of this event couldn't have been worse. Leo, like many others, had just been furloughed due to the pandemic, therefore he lost his health benefits. Due to the severity and length of time of his recovery process, Leo won't be able to return to work any time soon. He won't even be able to hold his two-year-old son Oliver for another 6 months.

While his uninsured medical expenses have surpassed $90,000 (and are still accumulating), we are asking for any donations big or small to help Leo and his family get through these hard times.  

Throughout this entire recovery process, both Leo and his wife Kim have kept a positive attitude. Anyone that knows him, knows that he would give the shirt off his back to help out a friend. Now it's our turn to return the favor. We are so lucky and blessed to have Leo still with us!