Get Nick Life-Saving Cystic Fibrosis Care

Hello,

My name is Nick Ransbottom and for the last 28 years of my life, I’ve been battling cystic fibrosis. Three years ago, I would have been able to tell you that my CF was being managed and my health was in a good place. But after huge setbacks in immigration, getting tangled up in a spiderweb of red tape, and having years of pleas to the right people going unanswered, my health is the worst it’s been in my entire life.

The biggest challenge I’m facing is that for over three years, I’ve been forced to go without any medical treatment for my cystic fibrosis because I have no healthcare. After marrying the love of my life in July 2020, all the healthcare and disability benefits I was receiving in the United States were severed. My husband Julien and I worked with an immigration lawfirm to help ensure I could obtain permanent residency in Quebec and get on RAMQ. During those two years, we were neglected by our lawyers and eventually left to fend for ourselves. Immigrating isn’t as simple as signing a form and you can imagine how stressful it is to try and navigate a situation like this on our own. It just wasn’t possible for us to do it without help.

From then on, Julien worked tirelessly to try and find the best ways possible to help get me medical care while we try to get help in filing for sponsorship, while I’ve been battling my body itself. In the past four years, I’ve been only been able to receive help via telemedicine a total of 19 times for just oral antibiotics. But that type of care wasn’t even the bare minimum, and as a result of going so long without proper medical treatment, I’ve entered the end stage of cystic fibrosis.

As I’m writing this, I’m currently in the hospital receiving intense IV antibiotics and my health is in critical condition. I’ve gone from 190lbs to 108lbs, I’ve lost almost all of my muscle mass, my air flow levels are severely low, and I have massive scar tissue in my right lung. I’ll likely need a lung transplant in the very near future and that’s absolutely not a possibility given my current circumstances.

But there are options. If I’m able to maintain my health once I’m out of critical condition, there’s a chance that I’ll be able to delay the need of a lung transplant — but that will only be possible with the funds to cover the medical treatments, medications, and regular CF therapy. I’m also able to pursue Trikafta, a life-saving drug with an annual cost of around $300,000. Trikafta has the potential to DRASTICALLY increase not just my lifespan and health but my quality of life as well.

It’s critical that I’m able to have my immigration forms processed as fast as possible, and for that reason, I also need the help of an immigration lawyer. Once I have permanent residency and can be on RAMQ, I’ll be able to have treatments like Trikafta covered, and I would be able to get put on a transplant list if it ever came to that.

Getting access to RAMQ and ensuring I can receive cystic fibrosis care during my immigration process will completely turn my life around. I have cried myself to sleep every night for the past two years since my health began to sharply decline, and I’ve been forced to watch my own reflection change every day. It isn’t only a matter of losing so much weight and muscle that I can now see my bones; I’m no longer the same person. I used to be someone full of joy and happiness, but since 2020, I’ve had all of that drained from me. Now all I see when I look in the mirror is a man who is, above all else, exhausted and in desperate need of hope.

I’m asking for money to help cover my costs of future cystic fibrosis treatments and to help cover the costs of an immigration lawyer. Approximately $10,000 will be used as a retainer for a lawyer, and the remaining $40,000 of our goal will be used for medical treatments.

If our wildest dreams come true and we’re able to surpass this goal, any further raised funds will go into a contingency plan so Julien and I can rest easy knowing we have money set aside in the event I were to have a medical emergency.

My husband and I have been fighting what still feels like an unwinnable battle on all fronts. I need these treatments to live and I’m not ready to die. Julien and I have worked hard to build a life for ourselves and I want to be around to grow old with my husband.

If you can’t spare any money, we understand! But please, please signal boost my fundraiser as much as you can. Just sharing our story and situation can do an unbelievable amount of good.