Our beloved fierce and fabulous Nomfundo Setshedi (aka Nomi) is facing a serious medical situation because of systemic racism in the UK health system. She has been in clear, urgent need of an excision of endometriosis for over two weeks now. The procedure is still in dispute by her insurance company, so in the meantime she has taken out a personal loan for part of it, but still needs close to $10,000 USD to cover the remainder of the cost.

When Nomi showed up, alone, to the emergency room in severe searing pain, having already been diagnosed with endometriosis, instead of immediately receiving the procedure that she clearly needed, she was admitted and then faced gaslighting and dismissal by health professionals questioning her mental state, and claiming she did not need the procedure.

We have raised some of the $2,500 USD that it cost to get her mother Virginia a visa and plane ticket so that Nomi does not have to navigate this alone. After a week of being stuck in a horrific cycle at the hospital by herself, she is at back home with support from her mom and has found a more trusted provider where she can get the procedure. However her insurance is currently refusing to pay for the procedure, saying it needs to go for review when they previously agreed that they would move the coverage to the next available consultant. So she is facing a potential bill of over $28,000 USD for this urgently necessary procedure.

This is a battle that Nomi, and millions of Black women around the world, should never have to fight. She is already among the significantly higher numbers of Black women who are misdiagnosed and delayed care, forced to bear debilitating pain for extremely extended periods of time.

Please show Nomi some love, let her know that she's got people in her corner in this battle that she never should have had to fight in the first place! Comment below and give whatever you can, and spread the word.