Early S Man needs our help

All,
Many of you know Early S Man (Warren Hall) from the Pelican Parts 911 BBS as a constant contributor over many years. Warren has tirelessly given his sage advice to people and helped literally thousands of Porsche enthusiasts. Now he needs our help.

Warren has Cystic Fibrosis (follow this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cystic_fibrosis). He's been in the hospital many times over the past years fighting off pneumonia and has beaten the odds by reaching the age of 57 years. This stay at St Paul hospital in Dallas has convinced him to finally become a candidate for a lung transplant which can ultimately lead Warren back to full health. Dr Rosenblatt (I believe the lead transplant doc) tells him that his other systems, heart, digestive, etc are in good order and he should be a good candidate.

There are two problems, time and money. The procedure will cost $400,000 to $500,000 and Warren is without insurance. The hospital will not consider him for a transplant or even the screening process to get on the list without the ability to finance it. He has some assets that can be sold to offset 30 – 35% of the cost, but that is not enough to get St Paul’s attention. The next problem, and this is much more critical is time. Warren’s Dr tells them that he expects time will run out for our friend in 3 to 4 months.

His sister Pat recently retired from her civil service job to care for Warren and act as his full time caretaker/advocate. Over the past few weeks, she has been weaving her way through the medical/health care system to find a way to get the transplant surgery paid for. She is currently checking into the Medicare/Medicaid system, bet we fear that the enrollment and qualification process may take too long.

Warren needs your help. Doctors, attorneys, medical case workers or others that know the system or have resources, please speak up and help our friend get through this.

If you have ideas, I can be reached by PM on the board, email (I only have email access in the evening) mark@markwilson.net, or by cell at 214 - four seven eight - 7272 or at work 214 - eight five nine - 6696.

Money

KurtV has agreed to be treasurer for donations to Warren's transplant fund. There is still a lot to work out, but right now, every day and every hour is working against us. Our goal is going to be $350,000 and we need to put this together in 30 days.

There are 45265 members of Pelican Parts Bulletin Boards. We only need 350 guys who can donate $1000 or 700 that will donate $500. Many of us spend that much at the drop of a hat for parts or repairs. Warren Hall has been a fixture of the Porsche community and this BBS from the beginning. He has generously contributed and never asked for anything in return. He's not asking now - I am. I need you guys to dig deep and do it quickly.

The official paypal fundraising account for Warren is kvalent118@gmail.com. Paypal website is https://www.paypal.com/.

Checks can be sent to:

Kurt Valentine
1100 Swifts Hwy
Jefferson City, MO 65109

I'm going to start this by donating $1000 and I challenge you all to give as deeply as you can. Every penny of this will be used for Warren's care. Please help.

Mark Wilson

Next steps to help Warren

Friends of Warren,
We are doing great in our first day of contributions. I expect we will hit $20K in the first 24 hours - but that is only a start. As a reminder, our goal is a minimum of $350,000 in the next 30 days. I want to meet with Warren's Doctor next week with a sufficient show of financial force; he will have no other option but to make this happen.

The next level is to reach out virally to the world. Many of you know influential and most of you are members of other online communities. We must tap into these other resources and ask/beg/grovel for money. I sent an email, very similar to the one below to many of friends and business associates last night. I need you all to do the same. I also need you to post on other forums and boards that you are members of and request member participation. If we can get this drive rolling, it will take on its own life, and Warren will have the best possible chance of getting through this.

Next is media attention. I know many of you are either in the media or have contacts. I want this on television news ASAP. There are two stories that media will be interested in. One is an online community coming together to help save a person's life. The second is a spotlight on the healthcare system and a person who can be saved but is marooned in its financial no mans land. If you have contacts that can help, please have them call me - 24/7 at my numbers on the first page of the master donation thread.

Below is a draft for you to work off of for emails and other BBS postings

Think Viral



Dear Friends,
Many of you know that maintaining, driving and restoring old Porsches is both a hobby and passion for me. There is an online community in the form of a bulletin board that has become an amazing technical resource for the hobby. This board is frequented by a few amazingly bright individuals who freely share their wisdom and experience so that others may benefit. Warren Hall from San Angelo, Texas, is one of the most prolific resources we have.

I write to you today on his behalf. Warren, known as Early S Man on the Pelican Parts Bulletin Boards, is in St Paul Hospital in Dallas TX in need of a lung transplant due to his lifelong struggle with Cystic Fibrosis. Warren has been a tireless contributor to the Porsche hobby and long time Porsche enthusiast.

Warren is caught in the grip of a broken health care system. He does not have insurance, but has assets that do not quickly allow him into the Medicare/Medicaid system. The surgery and aftercare is expected to cost $500,000 and the hospital will not consider him a candidate until he can prove his ability to pay. Warren's other challenge is time. His Doctor has given him 3 - 4 months to live without the transplant. We need to raise minimum of $350,000 in the next 30 days to get him in the system and on the transplant list.

I am writing you today in hopes that you will help by generously contributing to the fund set up to pay for the procedure. Some long time board members on Pelican have started a fund and collected over $10,000 in less than 24 hours. I'm asking you to visit the thread at Early S Man Needs Our Help and contribute to this fund. Warren deserves our help and WE can make a difference and help save his life. Please visit and give generously.