Raising funds for Marcel to pay for surgery in Thailand

Our friend, Marcel Richard, has had to undergo two surgeries in Thailand, for which he did not have insurance coverage. He has been working in the Bow Valley in Alberta as a painter for decades and has visited Thailand annually for many years.

He developed a condition which restricted the blood flow in part of his body. The doctors at Bangkok Hospital advised that the condition was a medical emergency and required immediate surgery. For the surgery, he was charged 170,000 Baht (about $7,200 CAD). Unfortunately, the surgery was not successful.

For further treatment, he attended Ramathibodi Hospital, which is a teaching hospital at Mahidol University in Bangkok. As a teaching hospital, it offers less expensive treatment, which Marcel needed, since he did not have much money left. The second surgery was successful, at a cost of 63,430 Baht (about $2,700 CAD).

The total cost of his surgeries was about $9,900 CAD and this expense has depleted almost all of his remaining funds.

We are starting this Go Fund Me to help him cover the cost of the surgeries and to survive in Thailand until mid-April, when he can return to Canada. It will be cheaper overall to stay in Thailand, than coming back and living in Canada right away. When he returns to Canada, in mid-April, he has painting work lined up and will be able to support himself from then.

Thank you for considering helping Marcel through this rough patch.