On [last] Wednesday Matt had to have emergency surgery on his leg because his calf turned blue due to the deep vein thrombosis. They had to put a long thin catheter into the veins in his leg. He is stable now, but they are saying they won't do the surgery he needs until this condition gets better.
We have almost raised the 10 mil he needed before, but his hospital bill is around 16 mil now, and rising... and he hasn't even had the main surgery.
Please continue to donate and pass this group on.
And on one post they've broken down the medical charges:
Medication - 2,500,000
Doctor's Fee - 94,460
Admission - 940,280
Meals - 922,720
Prescriptions - 135,732
Anesthesia - 614,858
Treatment - 419,354
Operation - 689,923
Examination - 1,340,067
X-ray - 71,268
Medical Expendible Supply - 784,169
Sonogram - 110,000
Blood Transfusion - 378,656
Specialist Fee - 865,950
Room - 38,000
Other - 10,000
This was the bill as of Friday evening. The charges go up every day, and from what [name withheld] said, the bill is now at 16,000,000 and rising.
I'd also like to pass along a question asked on the FAQ thread:
Last year after Bill Kapoun was badly burned there was a fundraiser at the Wolfhound with an auction, etc. When I came in, I paid 10,000won, and was told that enough money had been raised already, but the rest would go to a "burned teacher relief fund" (no joke, that was what was actually said to me!)...hmmm. I can definitely see the point of having a fund for these kind of situations, and isn't this situation exactly what a fund like that is for? Does anyone know what happened to that excess money?
According to the Save Bill Kapoun Facebook group, the remaining 13,000,000 won was donated by the Kapouns to the family of Nerine Viljoen, the teacher who died in a Mokpo apartment fire in December. Not that I'm demanding that money to be accounted for, or suggesting that our donations to those families ought to go to anyone but them, but I would feel better if we had people in the know on this other than Wolfhound employees. I'd also like to add what kushibo wrote on his "HABO (Help A Brother Out)" post:
I'd also like to know what the Friends of Matt group is going to do if they surpass the money needed. I'd like to see someone I trust (e.g., Brian, Marmot, the head of KOTESOL) keep that money in trust so that we have it ready for the next time — God forbid — we end up with a bad case like that of Bill Kapoun or Nerine Viljoen, requiescant in pace.
Maybe this isn't the place to talk about it, but I do think this is where a teachers' organization would be able to step in. A teachers' organization that is far less controversial, that is, than the current one, perhaps one that grew in large part out of community-based efforts like this, and one that could be trusted to oversee donations. Anyway, I'd like to close with what Daniel Gray of Seoul Eats had to say in response to kushibo's post; an excerpt:
Sure, Matt has made some wrong decisions. When he started to have these health issues, he should have gone home. There are many in Korea that dread the idea of going home because they don't know what they will return to. Imagine how he would have felt going home crippled and sick? Also, his medical bills in the states would have been 10 times what they are here.
I can assure you that the money that is raised will go to help Matt. The 10 million is not the final amount. Matt will have to stay in the hospital for an additional month after wards to heal. Then there will be costs for physical therapy and then getting him home or wherever he decides to go.
There have been people that have criticized the approach in getting money for Matt. But, it was due to the severity of the situation. It was a life and death situation and all of us had to act as soon as possible.
Thanks so much for donating and please spread the word.
Once again the donation information:
account #:481-007433-01-011
Bank: IBK / Industrial / 기업은행
The name on the receiving account is 매티유로. There is now a PayPal account, the address for which is chh5522[at]gmail.com. The group asks that you send post a message to make sure the donation went through.
10 comments:
Why is up to the English instructors with proper visas and insurance to cover for people that are here without insurance? Why do we have to make funds when buying travel insurance would take care of people.
Life throws everyone curve balls now and again, but Brent brings up a couple of good points.
Same thing with making sure you have enough funds for a return trip home if life abroad doesn't go as planned.
Yes, Brent does make some good points. We're putting the information out there and letting people decide for themselves whether they want to contribute.
On the one hand, someone with such health problems shouldn't be traveling without insurance, and probably shouldn't be traveling at all. We all have our limitations, and we all have to make sacrifices based on them. Perhaps somebody with a problem that could act up at any time shouldn't be overseas without a great deal of money put aside for just such a circumstance.
This isn't something like an apartment fire, something that is of course possible but something we never really thought about until it happened (twice). This is a case of someone with a pre-exsisting medical problem---a serious one, too---who was living in Korea and on a tourist visa without insurance. Yes, yes, he was looking for a job---does he tell employers about his condition?---and he would have had insurance eventually, but still. Raising thousands of dollars for this can be seen as bailing out somebody's stupidity . . . or, to put it more gently, lack of foresight and preparation.
As Daniel Gray wrote, Matt didn't want to go home crippled and sick, without insurance, and perhaps without something to go home to. Well . . . okay, but we can't always do what we "want." We all need, though, to try and forsee the unforseen . . . especially with such health problems shouldn't make such an outcome so unforseen. I've contributed a little, and others have as well; in my case I have a hard time saying no, and I recognize that's a weakness of mine. Hopefully others will learn from this---I know I'm looking into options for when I'm back here on a tourist visa---and I hope Matt and his friends are as quick to return the favor when it's their turn.
I suggest that for the foreigners here, especially the NSETs,its better to come up with plans to prevent things like this from happening. I mean how about making sure or finding ways that everybody in the group is covered with health insurance. Otherwise, this kind of scenario will repeat itself over and over again.
I suppose Kushibo knows a lot about how this can be sorted out since he seems to major on health policies.
I hope Matt recovers very soon.
Not to sound too nonchalant but whats the next cheapest country for medical care. Im sure 10,000 could get you to thailand, get your thrombosis fixed and you could probably get a nose job and a massage to boot.
Here's another one. http://www.mikemcstay.blogspot.com/ He's also a blogger here in Daejeon.
I'd like to know how much Matt and his family are contributing to his health fund. I can understand making bad choices but it seems like he should also pay something especially since he's already been working 3 years. I'm still a bit dubious about how legit this because on facebook I asked a question about couldn't he use a credit card or someone use a credit to pay for some of it or was the hospital requiring cash and basically was told that asking questions wasn't helpful. Also the amount they need keeps on going up. In the US in a life threatening situation doctors have to treat you regardless of your ability to pay. There is Mexico next to the US which has inexpensive health care as do many other Latin American countries. Many people go to Mexico for dental care, medical procedures, etc. Although I do think the guy is very irresponsible and even if he didn't want to go home, when he was sick he should have. We've all had to do things we don't want to do. In any case I hope he recovers.
Any updates on his situation and/or condition?
Arvinsign, I'm on the Mainland on a sort of work-vacation, so I didn't notice your comment about working out ways that this kind of thing won't happen.
One thing I've mentioned in several places, but I'll do again here, is that it would be a good idea to lobby the NHIC to offer "bridge" insurance between visas (when one is not legally a resident at all, but soon will be again).
Why would lobbying work, since the Koreans don't care at all about foreigners? Well, a mixture of lobbying and the people in charge knowing good health care policy is how "foreigners" got put in the system in the first place, and why their participation was even made mandatory.
For the same reason it's good sense to have all residents be in the health insurance pool, it makes sense to allow bridge insurance as well.
This would take a concerted effort, but right now the indignity of E2's having to pee in a cup is of far greater importance, so this will have to be put on the back burner for a while.
Barring successful lobbying, ATEK or some other organization could put together an affordable policy, but again, there's that whole peeing-in-a-cup issue, so don't hold your breath.
brent wrote:
Why is up to the English instructors with proper visas and insurance to cover for people that are here without insurance? Why do we have to make funds when buying travel insurance would take care of people.
First of all, many travel insurance plans would not pay for a pre-existing condition, unlike something like Korea's NHIC, which would cover it as much as it would regardless.
Second, shit happens. Shit happens more to some than others, and sometimes we allow shit to happen, but shit will happen to all of us at some time. And when that shit has us buried to the point we can't get out, it's a mark of humanity that someone might be there to lend us a helping hand.
You do it to others and if you ever, God forbid, need a hand yourself, maybe it will be there.
Do Unto Others, and all that.
Korea is a collectivist society (with some strikingly individualistic elements, but nevertheless predominantly collectivist). For the same bad actors in one's own group (say, misbehaving foreign teachers) may tend to make the whole lot (say, of foreign teachers) look bad, in the Korean mind, people are sort of expected to come to the aid of one of their in-group in need, if that person can't do so himself.
It doesn't always work out that way but, for better or for worse, the system sort of relies on such thinking. Matt's here and Matt is, to some degree, one of "our" own, so it's almost a social responsibility to step up and help out.
'Nuff said.
Post a Comment