Captain Phil’s Medical Bills from Flesh Eating Bacteria

On 8/22/15 my husband had a fishing charter. On 8/23/15 he came down with a fever and a spot on his leg that kept getting bigger, redder and darker. He was in a lot of pain. We went to an urgent care clinic but they were closed so we drove to Shands ER in Gainesville, FL. His blood pressure was dropping and blisters were forming on his leg. The ER doctor called in a surgeon. She took one look and was 99% sure it was Vibrio Vulnificus-a flesh eating bacteria. He was in surgery within the hour having the skin removed from his lower right leg from just below his knee to his toes. This began our month long stay in the Trauma Unit then the Burn Unit.

My husband is the sole employee of Native Son Charters, Inc. and we could not afford $1,400 per month for medical insurance and therefore he had none. He was just 2 months from qualifying for Medicare. He already had his card but couldn't use it. We have set up a payment plan with the doctors and hospital but if we lived to be 100 we'd never be able to pay off the $400,000+ combined bills. We have always paid our bills and paid on time, but this bill is astronomical. He is still going to clinic visits each week. As a result of this incident he can no longer work and we are living solely on retirement income. Any help you can give to pay this off would be greatly appreciated. We know the doctors and hospital literally saved his life and they certainly deserve to be paid. Thank so much for your help.

Sandra Muldrow