Tony Xiong’s Health Care Expenses

Tony Xiong is a beloved brother, son, friend, companion, and so much more.

On Friday morning, October 13th, 2023, Tony stopped having communications with the people that he talked to on a daily basis. This included his girlfriend, family, and close friends.

Tony is very independent, so he lives alone. Being that he is very independent, it would have been very easy to miss something like what our family had to endure this week. But as we look back on how things unfolded, we see that God had a huge hand in this rescue mission for Tony.

On Sunday night, October 15th, Tony’s sister Mailee randomly sent on the siblings family chat for everyone to write back if everyone was doing well, and for everyone to respond so that she knew we were all okay. Little did we know but Tony was actually “not” doing well. Some siblings responded, but a few others, including Tony, did not. The siblings did not think too much of it. Looking back, it seems God had already been sending us some kind of message to communicate on this mission.

On the next day of Monday, October 16th around 3pm, Tony’s girlfriend messaged Tony’s sister-in-law Bao that Tony has not responded to her messages and calls. She informed Bao that he just stopped talking to her as of Friday morning. Bao was just going to message Tony individually, but somehow she had it in her heart to write that instead to the family group chat.

Once Bao decided to put it in the family chat, this prompted more possible conversations. Tony’s sister Noulie said she also had not heard from him since Thursday. Tony’s sister Mailee urged that we call the police to do a welfare check at Tony’s house. The siblings even thought maybe he was kidnapped. Before jumping to more conclusions, the siblings had to make sure they had more reasons to really involve the police. Tony’s parents, siblings, and Tony’s girlfriend live out of state from him as well, so going to check on him in person quickly was not an option.

The evening of October 16th soon became heavy, and there were many attempts of trying to reach Tony with no success. At this point, all hands became on deck to find Tony. It had only been a few days since Tony last communicated with them, so the siblings thought it may be silly to stir up so much trouble of where Tony was. Yet again, something still did not seem right. God kept stirring in all his siblings hearts to keep searching.

With many phone calls and researching, the siblings and more family members found more evidence that Tony had not reported to work since Thursday.

Around 9pm of this continued night, the siblings decided to call in another trusted family member, Mong, who lived close by to Tony, and to now call the cops. Mong helped usher the cops to his house. The siblings were all on FaceTime with Mong to help assist and witness the process. Mong patiently assisted and was the communicator for the family and the police.

The police at first did not want to break in due to not having a warrant to break in. We were all at a desperate last hope. Shortly after, Mong’s grandpa called Tony’s church pastor Xf Tswv Dao to the scene. Xf Tswv Dao corroborated on more details and the full support to break in to the door, which convinced the police to eventually help invade.

Our heroic family friends; Mong, and Xf Tswv Dao, and the police followed protocol to break in, and searched the home to find Tony on his bedroom floor, unconscious. The cops and paramedics on scene confirmed that if Tony was not found for another day or two, we would for sure have lost Tony.

As Tony was rushed into the hospital by the ambulance, it was confirmed he suffered a heavy stroke on the left side of his brain. It is believed Tony had been laying down without support and suffered from his stroke since Friday of October 13th. This would have been four whole long days, and none of us knew. Friday morning was the last time anyone spoke with him, including his work place. Many people close to him agreed that it was not in his nature to miss work, or to do a no call, no show. Tony was supposed to work Friday, Saturday, and Sunday as his normal shifts, but again he did not report to these shifts per his manager.

It breaks our hearts thinking about how lonely those days were for Tony. God fought for Tony, and sustained him in the time that he was alone. Therefore we know he was truly not alone, as God was with him.

Our family is hurting, but we are putting our trust in God at this time to carry us through, and especially; Tony.

These things remind us that time is short but precious, and crucial. We praise God that Tony was found before it was too late. We thank God for another chance that He gave for Tony.

God called so many people to help with this unknown mission, and it was clearly a teamwork effort that was needed from everyone who played a part on this day. Our appreciation has been huge to everyone who helped.

God had a play in coming to rescue Tony and we know that God was not done with him yet.

Tony’s whole family dropped everything at home, and drove overnight to Tony in Pennsylvania. We all got to see Tony again as he made eye contact with us all at the hospital. Tony is in good hospital hands now, and his care is ongoing. Tony will eventually be transported back to Rhode Island to rehabilitate. If you would like to give in support for Tony’s continued care, hospital and physical therapy expenses, this will be the designated page for that.

With much hope and prayers, Tony is improving but is still not fully conscious. His neurological state is still needing to improve. He is breathing, but is under support through tube flush and feedings. His movements are minor to none on his own. His eyes are open and he sees us but since he cannot talk, we do not know what he is thinking at all. There are so many emotions at this time. We love Tony, and in this recovery stage, we have faith and hope that he will recover.

In advance, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your love, and time. Tony’s family has already been flooded with so much love, hospitality, and support from Tony’s local church, family, and friends while staying in Pennsylvania, and we couldn’t thank you all enough.

We appreciate your love and support for Tony throughout the years. We know he has brought smiles and joy to so many people around him. Many people in the community has come forward during this time and spoken on how he has impacted them greatly.

God pursues us relentlessly, even when it doesn’t make sense to us. Like the song “Rescue” says; God will send out an army to find us in the middle of the darkest night. He will never stop marching to reach us in the middle of our hardest fight. We thought of Tony so much in this song, in what he had to go through, and in God’s rescue mission for him.

In 2 Corinthians 12:9, Paul asked the Lord to take his hardship and weakness away. The Lord said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.”. The Lord has said that it is in our weakness that His strength is found. Though it is a tough time for many of us who love Tony dearly, let this be a reminder for us of that truth.

Please join us in continuing to lift Tony up for prayers at this difficult time as he heals. We know God still has great plans for Tony.