Help Nikos Diaman (Diamantidis)
Fundraising campaign by
Aaron Sachowitz
-
US$4,852.00raised of $5,000.00 goal goal
No more donations are being accepted at this time. Please contact the campaign owner if you would like to discuss further funding opportunities
Campaign Story
My donor-dad Nikos Diaman (Nikos Diamantidis in Greek) was rushed to the hospital in Athens, Greece on October 19th suffering from internal bleeding. Since then, he has undergone two surgeries and had five transfusions of blood. While his doctors are currently optimistic, he remains in critical, if stable, condition at Laiko General Hospital in Athens. COVID makes it difficult for me to go visit him, and also complicates his treatment there. He has not regained consciousness since his most recent surgery to remove the cancerous section of his intestine that was hemorrhaging, but we know that when he does, he will have a long recovery before he is able to return to San Francisco. Although much of cost of his treatment will ultimately be covered by the Greek healthcare system (thank you!), with no family in Athens to be with him, we will likely need to hire a nurse to be with him and help him recover as well.
Fortunately, he does have several friends in Athens, including Proud Seniors of Greece and Dr. Nikolas Lemnos, who have been visiting him and supporting him as much as they've been able. My dad has been involved in the LGBTQ+ community for a long time as an activist, artist, and author, and has been very happy to have had a chance to march in Athens Pride often in recent years on travels that are otherwise occupied by doing genealogical research for his family trees, making connections with other members of the LGBTQ+ community in Greece. On behalf of my father, I thank you for any support you are able to provide. All money raised goes directly to pay for his recovering, in Greece or when he returns, and all leftovers will be donated to an LGBTQ+ cause in his honor.
(Note, some folks have said that donating through PayPal brings them to a screen with a strange invoice looking image but no way to click or slide over to actually authorize the transaction. If that's so, I suggest using Stripe, which seems to work better more of the time)
Fundraising Team
- Aaron Sachowitz
- Campaign Owner
- Nikolas Lemos
- Athens Coordinator
- San Francisco, US
Greek Gay Scientist in San Francisco
Greek Gay Scientist in San Francisco
Donors
- Anonymous
- Donated on Nov 13, 2020
- Anonymous
- Donated on Nov 09, 2020
- jim fouratt
- Donated on Nov 09, 2020
Final Post
Update posted by Aaron Sachowitz at 11:45 pmThank you to everyone who donated to help my father. I have been meaning to post an update since I returned from Greece, but been so distracted with everything that I've put it off time and again. I was able to rush the process of getting Nikos cremated in Greece,. . . . .
Nikos has passed
Update posted by Aaron Sachowitz at 04:40 amWith great sadness I write that Nikos has passed here in Greece. I got a call from the hospital at 3:30am (5:30pm Pacific) letting me know. I am very grateful that I was able to visit him twice since arriving here on Friday. Even though it was for only 10. . . . .
In Greece 11/7
Update posted by Aaron Sachowitz at 10:14 amI made it to Greece midday Friday and took a taxi to Nikos’ apartment. After cleaning up, I went to the hospital. I was only allowed to visit with Nikos for about 10 minutes—the ICU has a no visitors policy but they let me in because I had come all. . . . .
Update from Tuesday 11/3 - Travel to Athens
Update posted by Aaron Sachowitz at 12:51 amHello to all the generous supporters. I spoke with Nikos' doctors on Tuesday morning about his condition and consulted with some doctors here in the US as well. Unfortunately, it seems he has continued to deteriorate, and is being kept alive only though serious medical intervention at this time. Recovery. . . . .
Update from Thursday Morning 10/29
Update posted by Aaron Sachowitz at 05:03 pmAround midnight SF time/9am Thursday in Greece I was finally able to talk briefly with a doctor in the ICU of the Laiko hospital in Athens, where Nikos is recovering from surgery. They have stopped the sedation for Nikos and are waiting for him to wake up from his medically. . . . .
Donors & Comments
- Anonymous
- Donated on Nov 13, 2020
- Anonymous
- Donated on Nov 09, 2020
- jim fouratt
- Donated on Nov 09, 2020
- Roberto Camp, Donna Gottschalk, Larry Kovacs
- Donated on Nov 08, 2020
Hasta luego to a friend for many decades. Roberto Camp Donna Gottschalk Larry Kovacs
- Anonymous
- Donated on Nov 07, 2020
- Anonymous
- Donated on Nov 05, 2020
- Anonymous
- Donated on Nov 02, 2020
- Anonymous
- Donated on Nov 02, 2020
- Joan Kramer
- Donated on Nov 02, 2020
Nikos, it's an ax in the fire, come on back to us.
- Terry (Hammer) Cavanagh
- Donated on Nov 01, 2020
I hope Nikos is not suffering and is getting better daily. He's a great guy. I've read several of his books. Thanks for taking this all on.