My buddy Kushibo wrote about Matt Robinson's situation here
As in, "help a brother out."
It seems one Matt Robinson has encountered some serious health concerns while in Korea (temporarily) on a tourist visa. Brian has the details here, where you can read about the thrombosis and the possible amputation and the what not. Here are more details on Facebook.
If you do donate money, consider leave a comment here saying so, or at least email me. That way if you ever end up in the hospital with massive bills that you can't pay, I won't hesitate at all to send 100K won your way either (and I hoped you'd do the same for me). That's sort of how insurance works.
And here is my response:
Matt has had a very rough year with his health and because of his ongoing struggles, he got a bit depressed. Matt would never openly ask for money or help. He called up a few of his close friends to ask for money and it was a very difficult thing for him to do. If Matt saw how so many people were asking for help on his behalf, he would be furious and embarrassed. It's a good thing he doesn't have access to the Internet.
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.
Dan
As in, "help a brother out."
It seems one Matt Robinson has encountered some serious health concerns while in Korea (temporarily) on a tourist visa. Brian has the details here, where you can read about the thrombosis and the possible amputation and the what not. Here are more details on Facebook.
His bills are expected to run to about 10 million and the surgery he needs has to be paid up front or else he'll be booted out of the hospital, say the people who have put up the Facebook information page.
I'm one of those there-but-for-the-grace-of-God kind of people, so I'm in for 100K won (bank account details below).
Frankly, having been duped in the past by horror stories of people in desperate need, I would have liked to see a bit more confirmation of this guy's dire straits from people with whom I'm familiar, but the support network for this guy seems too complex to be a hoax, and if it is a Kari Ferrell level of elaborate deception, well then they deserve the money for all that effort, I s'pose. (By the way, I'm still not convinced that Salvador/Beau Smith was a real case, and my email to the sheriff in the rural county where he was supposedly from remains unanswered.)
So like I said, I'm in for 100K won. And by "100K won," I mean a hundred thousand won, not 100 Korean won, though sending a 100-won coin is just the kind of sneaky, a-holeish thing kushibo would do, then turn around and say everyone misunderstood what I'd said. I'm just that vile. At least, that's what people tell me.
Here's the information if you'd like to risk being a dupe and would like to do something for humanity (or for yourself, if you're one of those "do unto others" Jesus freaks or a "what goes around comes around" pragmatist looking for a payoff down the road).
Account number: 481-007433-01-011
Bank: IBK (Industrial Bank of Korea, 기업은행)
Name on account: 매티유로 (short for Matthew Robinson)
And here is my response:
Matt has had a very rough year with his health and because of his ongoing struggles, he got a bit depressed. Matt would never openly ask for money or help. He called up a few of his close friends to ask for money and it was a very difficult thing for him to do. If Matt saw how so many people were asking for help on his behalf, he would be furious and embarrassed. It's a good thing he doesn't have access to the Internet.
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.
Dan
First off, let me say that I'm glad someone that I knew prior to hearing of Matt's case is someone who can vouch for him. That makes me feel better that my 100K won is going to be well spent (and I'm a grad student with a mortgage now looking for a new TAship, so that's no small bit of cash for me). I trust your assurances.
ReplyDeleteAs for Matt's "wrong decisions," the reason I addressed them the way I did is that his is actually a typical case. Folks in their 20s and 30s tend not to think of themselves as susceptible to catastrophic illness, so they often go without insurance (this, in fact, is one of the reasons there is a breakdown in the health care system back in the US). I think Matt's case can be a cautionary tale for everyone, and it should be a reason for folks without F-status visas or ROK citizenship to to work out some sort of way to stay insured when lapses in employment occur.
A few years back I had appendicitis during a week that I had planned to be in the US, where I would NOT have had insurance. I would have had $10K or $15K of bills just for that routine surgery and it would have hurt. Ever since then, while residing in Seoul, I buy traveler's insurance every time I leave Korea.
As you mention, the bills might have been ten times higher in the States (?) where he's from, so leaving his home and livelihood may not have been the best solution anyway. I certainly wouldn't fault him for staying.
As for his embarrassment about asking for money, I think that's common but it's also something that people need to be realistic about setting aside, particularly when a choice is made to live in a collectivist society where care and treatment might actually depend on people being able to rely on others.
In fact, I'd be willing to bet that one thing Matt might need is friends or family who can stop by on a regular basis and help out. When I got my appendectomy, I was in the new "hospital-like" wing of Severance, but loved ones have been in the "regular" rooms where even washing and other routine situations are expected to be handled by family members.
Anyway, I'm not faulting the guy. I only offered those questions/comments so we can avoid stuff in the future.
[I'm leaving this same comment on my blog, where you'd also left this same message.]
My prayers go out to Matthew and this terribly grave situation.
ReplyDeleteI think it's great to have people donate the money that is needed, but at the same time I would like to ask some questions. Is he getting any support from his family at all? In times of desperate need, sometimes its family who can really step in and help quicker.
It is unfortunate that Matt's situation has come to this point. As you mentioned DG, he should have gone back to the US much earlier. There's no room for pride if you're seriously sick.
ReplyDeleteAt the moment, all I can suggest is this. Get his family out to Korea and ask them to support him. It's all fine to ask strangers for support, but it's not wise to depend on this 100%. You have to have a contigency plan.
Another suggestion,contact Yonsei University, the International Clinic. Dr. Linton is a very well known doctor here in Seoul, and may be able to help.
I sincerely hope Matthew will come through this.
Anonymous, that's a good suggestion about John Linton at Severance. He may be able to find avenues of treatment and/or payment, but he's not omnipotent, so don't expect a miracle.
ReplyDeleteI think you're also right about there being no room for pride when you're sick. Do what you can to get yourself better, even if that means taking free money from strangers.
As I've said, though, and as DG alluded, he might not have been better off doing this in the US, even if he'd done so earlier. While the Facebook page suggests bad treatment by the Korean doctors for some of his problems, that's by no means a given. Trust me, a lot of really bad sh¡t can happen whenever you open anyone up and do surgery. My sister in California almost died from the botched handling of a miscarriage, a week after she was discharged.
It's a product of American litigiousness that we think someone should be sued whenever medical results don't go our way, when what he fail to realize is that not all problems can be fixed so neatly as a routine appendectomy.
At any rate, had he done this in the States, as DG said, it could be closer to $100K, which might have been prohibitively expensive.
My prayers are that he gets the care he needs, it's as good as wherever he could have gotten it, and he comes out okay from all this.
I hope his family can come and be with him; it might make things easier. It would be nice if the only financial burden they have at that time is where to stay.
Kushibo,
ReplyDeleteI completely understand your reasonings, but I still think that since he's an American citizen, it would have been better if he was there. Yes, the operations might have been more expensive, but at least he'd be with his family and able to speak the language and in some ways be more in "control" of the situaation. The thought of having to go through this in Korea is just daunting and I just wish that he had gone back sooner. But anyway, he's in this situation and there has to be a solution.
What is the financial situation now? How much is needed? What are the doctors saying? Minutes count in this situation.
I am asking around now to some donors who might be able to give a lump sum of money to help Matthew.