Please help with donations for Joel’s burial

Hello, I’m Elvin Rivera (brother of Joel), and I am here to beg you to come to our assistance over the loss of our beloved family member. 

On Thursday morning at 3:28am, Joel (45) a loving brother, uncle, friend and family member suddenly passed away after a massive heart attack that caused him to flatline. Through all these, he still fought through it, his time was not up, and he miraculously came back to us! We were already getting full of hope but sadly, the massive heart attack caused a multi-organ failure, and also resulted in no pulse in his legs and arm. 

Prior to this, on Wednesday, he had to go through an emergency surgery in an attempt to save his life. The doctors warned us of his chances of survival being low, but he steadfastly fought against all odds for 12 hours, despite this being seemingly impossible. I can remember vividly, the nurses and also the doctors telling us that although he may have been able to hear us, he was still in a critical condition and not out of danger  just yet. Despite the grim predictions, we all knew how strong our brother/uncle is, with first hand experience, believing that he had the toughness to get through it. Surprisingly, he came out of surgery with just enough brain function to respond to his brother's voice and later to his long-term girlfriend of over 20 years.

Again he went into surgery with his heart functioning at only 15% capacity, his kidneys and liver completely damaged, no pulse in both his legs and one of his arms. God gave him the strength to get through this surgery and he fought a great deal to get to say his goodbyes to all of us.

We are currently in shock and mourning over the loss of someone who was a source of joy to us all, and a key part of our lives. With his passing being so unexpected, we are out of funds needed to take care of the post mortem expenses. We have spent a lot of money in trying to save his life, and we don’t regret that as we would do it over again if there was the slightest chance of him surviving. 

This is our last resort to reach out to families, friends and the general public to come to our aid as we lack any alternative options to raise the needed funds; the medical expenses have been a great drain on us. We appeal to everyone to give to our cause,  no matter how little, to help us give him the proper funeral, and to help us fulfill his wish of being buried next to his late mother in Puerto Rico. 

Every contribution you make will go a long way, and we appreciate your support. Apart from donating you can further help by sharing our fundraiser to social media platforms like Facebook, and others. 

P.S. You don't need to leave a tip for GOFUNDME - you can set that to zero. Please- anything counts!