Support Eric Vergara during Covid

Hi everyone -

As some of you may already know my older brother Eric Vergara, was diagnosed with COVID-19 for the second time, in the last two months, after working highly exposed to people without protection in the epicenter, Miami has become. This time unfortunately, his symptoms were more severe, as they included fever, dizzy spells, strong debilitating body aches, chills and gastrointestinal issues.

After a week of displaying symptoms, which he believed to be food poisoning, one day during midnight hours he felt the urge to use the restroom, but when he tried to get up he couldn’t make it out of bed. He immediately knew something was wrong. He made a call and was immediately transported to Baptist Hospital, as he couldn’t drive himself.  Upon arrival to the ER, they immediately ran tests and he was diagnosed with Covid-19 and Multi-focal Pneumonia, which means it is visible in multiples parts of the lungs. He was required to be admitted, given that he is Diabetic and remained under observation for 3 days, since symptoms were still quite aggressive and his blood pressure was unstable.

In moments like these, is where we need the support of those around us. With him being a Former Intelligence Officer and National Security Analyst, it is not like him to ask for this type of assistance or support, so I’m taking it upon myself to do it for him. With him being out of work for 3 weeks now and counting, he is facing a great loss of income. Since he currently works for a private employment sector business, he is not entitled to paid medical / sick leave. Also, he is unsure of when he can anticipate a full recovery to return to work, as symptoms can linger for multiple weeks and he is required to show proof of two back to back negative test results before he can be reintegrated into the workplace.

As another downside to working for a private sector employer, medical benefits are out of his means, which results in him having to pay for medical care / attention out of pocket. As many people currently do, they pay out of pocket for annual visits / preventative care, but when something like this comes up, where hospitalization and extensive medical follow ups are involved, it becomes very difficult to pay these costs out of pocket, especially with loss of income. He is due to return for several medical follow ups, including one with a pulmonary specialist for imaging of his lungs, but these costs will be difficult to cover without being employed.

If there is anything you can do, to support him during this time, please do. He cannot get thru this without your help. No amount is too small. We are not sure at this point how soon he can return to work and obviously his health comes first, to ensure he has no complications or setbacks in his recovery process.

We greatly appreciate anything you can do and we will be forever grateful for your support! 

God Bless!