Urgent Medical Care for John Wheaton

Our dad, John Wheaton, has been living and working in China as an English teacher since 2008, and has been at the Henan Institute of Technology in Zhengzhou since 2017. John lives alone in China while we 4 kids all live in the USA.On Monday, May 20th, 2019 we were contacted by the company (Education In English) that recruited John to work at the Henan Institute of Technology because he was taken to the hospital with a high fever, and an inability to speak and make sense. The hospital completed multiple CT scans and MRIs, and has diagnosed John with herpes simplex virus encephalitis (HSE). It is a serious condition which causes the brain to attack itself and has also spread to his lungs.  John was on a good path to recovery until early Friday morning, May 24th, when John suffered a seizure, and had difficulty breathing due to pneumonia. John is on a breathing machine and has a feeding tube, and is currently stable – although still in the ICU.John’s youngest son, James, has made the trip from the USA to Zhengzhou, China, and is there in-person to visit John at the hospital, and to help with financial matters.Needless to say, medical care isn’t cheap. So far we have been unable to verify if John has health insurance to help with these medical expenses. Medical care is 100% out of pocket. Individual employees of Education In English have helped by paying all of John's medical costs until this point – which has been the equivalent of about $5,000 for a week of hospitalization. However, their generosity is not a charity donation; that $5,000 must still be paid back.With John in the ICU at the present moment, we expect him to remain in the hospital for at least a few more weeks. The Chinese hospital is requiring payment for past treatment before continuing with future care. While we have been able to make a payment of $10,000 for his care, we do not personally have the funds to cover all of the anticipated expenses. We are reaching out to his friends and family for any support you may provide.