I know this is way off topic for this newsgroup, but I know that some people here are nearing retirement, could probably relate to our problem, and maybe could help point us in the right direction.
My wife's cousin, (Eddie Hisoler is his name, he's 42 years old) who lives in the southern Philippines (Mindanao island, about 400 miles south of Manila) and makes a living as a farmer (and makes about $1 or $2 in income a day), needs a kidney transplant. Without this transplant, he will die. Now, the health care system in the Philippines is nothing like it is in the United States or Europe. Even after he sold everything (his farm, his farm animals) to pay for medical treatment thus far, when the doctors found out that he could not afford to pay for even kidney dialysis, they removed his dialysis tube, stitched him up, and dismissed him from the hospital. He is now at home, waiting to die.
He cannot afford kidney dialysis, needed 3 times a week, and estimated at 15,000 Philippine pesos per dialysis (since about 55 pesos equals $1, this is about $273 a shot). A kidney transplant is available, but will cost one million Philippine pesos (about $18,200).
This is not a spam, my email address works (try it, do an IP address DNS lookup if you don't trust me, I'm in Sacramento, CA).
I'll help out as much as I can too, of course, but since I'm just starting out (I'm a 29-year-old engineer), this chunk of change is a bit beyond me at the moment.
If you know of anyone who can help, or of anyone who knows the right people who can pull the right strings to send a kidney over to the Philippines, my wife and I (and Eddie, of course) would be very grateful.
I'm not sure how immigration for emergency medical reasons works, but if someone knows of a country who will allow him to visit for emergency surgery, please let me know also.
Thank you,
Michael Darrett