Robert Ciconte:My Fight with Flesh-Eating Bacteria
Hello my name is Robert. I've never posted anything like this before but now feel that I must give it a try since I am out of options. I have an urgent need to raise $30,000 by the end of the summer, a fourth of my medical expenses debt, to cover immediate bills. Please, if you can, support me in this Go Fund Me campaign to pay these mounting bills. A $20 contribution would help out so much.
Last Nov. 15th I was diagnosed with Necrotizing Fasciitis (Infectious disease bacteria also known as flesh-eating infectious bacteria). It truly came out of nowhere; in fact I didn't even think I was sick when I went to the ER to have my scalp evaluated. My wife, Eunnie, made me go and I am so lucky that she did because that’s when the doctors diagnosed the bacterial infection, she saved my life. I spent the next two and a half weeks in a medically induced coma which is seen in the photo. The doctors performed 26 surgeries on my scalp in November. Since then I have undergone 10 more surgeries to try and correct this issue and related issues with my tracheotomy. The doctors told me that if I had delayed visiting the ER, even by an hour, the bacterial infection would have progressed too far for them to be able to treat my condition. I have been in and out of the hospital a total of eight times since last November.
The road to recovery has been tough but I persevere in order to build up my strength to return to a normal life. I never thought anything like this could happen to me but I was truly mistaken. My medical bills are growing and I am struggling to keep up.
In the past, I was always the person others would turn to for help. For that reason, it is even more difficult for me to now be in the position of asking for help for myself.
My current debt for medical bills is already at $120,000 and will increase with my continued medical treatments. However, at this time, I have an urgent need to raise $30,000 by the end of summer to cover some immediate bills. Please, if you can, support me in this Go Fund Me campaign to pay these mounting bills.
Thank you and God Bless You
~Robert