Tony needs urgent bladder surgery

My life-long friend Tony Bayda has been through the wringer, facing life-threatening disease without medical insurance. First, he had advanced prostate cancer, so we fundraised successfully to afford the surgery for that.  

(He was diganosed with prostate cancer while living abroad in Lebanon, as a social activist, and returned to his family in Texas for treatment. Because he'd been out of the US for some years, he'd lost his health insurance AND his condition was now considered pre-existing.) 

Unfortunately, during the prostate surgery, his bladder was injured (not uncommon), leaving him incontinent.  The hospital where the original surgery was performed had him sign a form, acknowledging that this could be a side effect -- thus avoiding any responsibility for the devastating aftermath of prostate surgery.

The loss of dignity as an adult man, to have to live the rest of his life in diapers, is too much to bear.  

And of course, without medical insurance or full-time employment, Tony has no alternative but to just 'live with it.'  

Unless we help. 

Eleanor Roosevelt famously said, "It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness."

I feel that we have a chance to light a candle, here, for Tony's full recovery, for health, for life, and above all, for dignity. 

Because Tony is an exceptionally private person, he didn't want to have a photo of himself posted.  

We chose, instead, to make a lit candle be the photo for this campaign -- to remind us all that we can always make a difference in the life, and suffering, of another. 

Please, however you can help -- all donations are welcome, any size. Every little bit gets us closer to the goal.  Sharing this campaign widely on social media, via email, with friends and family, also creates an enormous impact and helps us reach the goal sooner.  

Thank you, so much, for your generosity to restoring dignity to my friend Tony! 

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For GoFundMe and disclosure purposes, I am Alx Uttermann, Minister and President of UCBK, the Universal Church Of Baba's Kitchen -- a 501c3 spiritual organization (legally a church).  

In keeping with our mission is to provide vital service to those in need, I set up this GoFundMe on behalf of Tony Bayda, will be collecting the money through UCBK but all of the funds will go directly to Tony for his medical care.