My name is Carlos Echeverria, and on August 28, 2021 my life was completely turned upside down as I was admitted into Wake Med Hospital in Raleigh, NC due to COVID-19. Upon arriving, I was immediately admitted into the ICU, and up until that point I was a very active father of two boys and extremely dedicated to the Boy Scouts of America. I held down a full time job as the Chief Engineer for the Renaissance Raleigh hotel for over 12 years.
I don’t remember much of what happened in the hospital – all that I can remember was that one day a nurse walked into my room while I was on a ventilator, and I asked, “Why are there boxes outside of my window?” to which she replied, “Those are for people who pass away and that is what they carry them out in.” I told the nurse, “That’s not going to be me.” and I locked this moment of time in my mind while I fought for every breath that I was taking.
During that time in the hospital, I learned that my wife became badly infected, as well as one of my sons. Both of them became extremely ill and since neither my wife or I could work, our household bills of course did not stop, and we exhausted our income simply to keep providing shelter and food for our boys.
My employer, the Renaissance Raleigh hotel, and our health insurance collectively already paid down a total of $85,011.43 of the event. Our families remaining debt that we are struggling to get through is down to $3,543.12.
As a very hard working family in this circumstance, we are hopeful that our community can come together and assist us in our hospital debt. During this time, my family and I will continue trying to regroup to our normal day to day life since, and any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
You can donate to our family’s COVID-19 ICU Relief Fund using the Health Possible donate button below. 100% of donations on Health Possible stories go to the families, like us – the Echeverria family.
Thank you for taking the time to read our story and considering us during the holiday season.
Sincerely,
Carlos Echeverria