Tony NEEDS a Lung Transplant!

"You shouldn't be alive."

Those were the words the doctor told my good friend Tony just before Christmas. Tony came down with COVID in August 2021, was put on a ventilator, and was placed in a medically induced coma. There were days when we thought he would never pull through, but after several months, he woke up. Additional months at several rehabilitation facilities followed, and he was finally allowed to go home to his family. He was on continuous oxygen and partially paralyzed, but he was home.

The doctors told him it would "take time" for him to heal. But nearly a year after contracting COVID – and several additional hospitalizations – he still wasn't getting better. His family's search for answers led them to Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, where they were told approximately 2/3 of his lungs were scarred with COVID fibrosis and he would need a double lung transplant.

Tony has not been able to work at his job with the F.B.I. and has run out of leave time because of his condition. He has been on "Leave Without Pay" (LWOP) since last year. He applied for Social Security Disability and filed his disability retirement paperwork with the F.B.I. over five months ago. However, things are moving too slowly and the paperwork has yet to be processed. Medical bills are mounting and there's no word on if or when his requests for Social Security Disability and disability retirement will be granted – and there's is no guarantee either one will be approved, even though his doctors say there is no way he can work. Additionally, since he has not been drawing a salary, he's been told his medical benefits will be cut off in February.

The F.B.I. prides itself on being a family. Their motto is Fidelity, Bravery, and Integrity. However, this is not the way you treat family. Tony has over a decade of service to the F.B.I. plus five years of military service in the U.S. Army and needs our help now.

Please consider donating to help the Burniston family make ends meet while they wait for his retirement – and his lung transplant – to become a reality. If you are unable to help financially, we covet your prayers and ask that you share Tony's story.