Urgent Financial Assistance Request for Darryl Libres

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Darryl Libres, age 35, was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension (PH) on Jan 15th, 2019. PH is a condition of increased blood pressure within the arteries of the lungs, a life threatening condition. It is different from having regular high blood pressure, a condition where many of us are more familiar with.

He was admitted to the hospital on April 19th, 2019 and was in the Ramathibodi Hospital Cardiac Care Unit (CCU) for more than half his stay of 5 weeks in the hospital. During that time, he had been told by the specialists that he needed a heart and lung transplant. We prayed unceasingly, trusting God to heal, lead and guide the family each step of the way. Darryl was discharged about 2 weeks later with the doctor acknowledging that it was a miracle that his condition improved so tremendously, that he is no longer a candidate for the transplants!

His condition has been managed with a cocktail of medications which is a heavy burden to the family’s finances as he does not have medical insurance to cover all the expenses incurred - be it the 5 weeks hospitalization costs or the medications.

On the evening of Monday, November 18th, 2019, Darryl was admitted into the Red Cross Chulalongkorn Hospital's Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and had 2 cardiac arrests the following day. He is currently in critical condition.

The three main systems of Darryl's heart, lungs and kidneys are all not functioning on their own. To sustain his life, doctors have used a combination of specialized machines to replicate these functions: 1) extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) - serving as a machine heart where blood from his artery is oxygenated through a machine before being pumped and returned to his body, 2) artificial lung machines - his lungs are heavily damaged and is unable to breathe on his own, and 3) critically reduced kidney function has necessitated around the clock dialysis.

Darryl is currently under sedation with the hopes to give his body rest and strengthen. Vigilant care and attention by the nurses and doctors through continuous observation and monitoring is required during this critical period. When his condition improves, the doctors will gradually reduce the sedation and the use of machines. We are praying for the healing to take place.

Red Cross Hospital at Chulalongkorn is neither a private nor public hospital, which dramatically lowers the total medical costs if compared to a private hospital. Importantly, all doctors and nurses are not charged to the patient's medical bills as they are fully salaried and have no share in the revenue and patients that they care for.

Secondly, the hospital only charges for the room, equipment used, medication as needed. An average cost for a regular ICU patient is about 20,000 Baht per day. Darryl's bill is significant (in excess of 800,000 Baht) after only 9 nights stay due to the specialized machines that are being utilized to sustain Darryl. There is a high setup fee that is only significant at the beginning, but usage costs are low in comparison.

These hospital bills are an enormous amount, too big for us to manage, on our own. His current health insurance plan does not cover pre-existing medical conditions, so will likely result in minimal contribution.

Our financial resources are stretched thin and we really need help.

Because of the critical nature of his condition, it is essentially impossible to give an accurate monetary figure as to what the final figure will be. At this time, we would like to set a financial assistance goal of 800,000 Baht in order to potentially cover unseen machine / medication costs, along with another 14 days of ICU care.

Darryl has been married to Lorraine for 12 years and have three beautiful daughters, Juliana, Adrianna and Karina aged 14, 11, 7. He and his family have been living in Thailand since 2014. Darryl is currently employed at Global English School and serves as computer teacher. He was previously employed in Bangkok at another school, Horwang School, also serving as a teacher there.

Darryl is an active and engaged member of Evangelical Church of Bangkok serving as the Lay Leader of the Men's Ministry. Most recently, he organized and attended a Men's Retreat for 45 men from various international churches in Bangkok and Pattaya from Nov. 8-10.

He is a great son, a cheeky brother-in-Christ, and a great friend to many. Most of all, Darryl is a man who loves God and seeks to glorify Him in all that he does.

Please consider making a donation to help with the cost of Darryl’s medical bills. Your support through this difficult and overwhelming time is much appreciated.