I had a friend who was 24 when he died. He was having headaches and had been having difficulties with his balance and with sleeping. He went to get himself checked out by a doctor and after several tests they discovered that he had a brain tumor. He was devastated when they told him that there was not much that they could do for him since he did not have family health insurance. They said that the tumor was not growing too quickly and that it was inoperable, so they guessed that he probably had about a year to live. He was always one to put on the tough act, and the doctor's told him that he would not be able to operate machinery or drive or anything like that. One night, his wife was out, and he took the car and went out for a drive. He wound up running off the road and hitting a tree. Well, he didn't want to tell his wife what had happened, so he took the car and drove home and told her that the neighbor hit the car.
I guess she believed it, but his symptoms began to get worse, he began to slur his words and fell over in the shower. She called 911 and had him rushed by ambulance to the emergency room. It was the same hospital that had diagnosed his brain tumor only a week earlier. They did not have a family health insurance plan, and the hospital knew this and new about his inoperable brain tumor. They determined that in the car wreck he had bumped his head and so he was bleeding internally. They could have stopped the bleeding or did something, however, with his already failing health and no insurance, they were unwilling to do anything for my friend Ron and he hemorrhaged to death in a bed in that very hospital.
I know you are thinking to yourself that this story sounds made up to you, but I swear to you it is not his name was Ronald Spearman and he died at 24 years old in Spartanburg SC. I write this not only as a tribute to him, but to all those without health insurance in this unjust and inhumane world. I am sure that he is in a better place now, but as for us we are still here. Please I know you don't believe things like this happen in this world, but they do.