Los Angeles photographer, Conan Soranno, was forced to make a critical decision, pay hospital bills or be homeless... he later died.
After vomiting "buckets full of blood" he was forced to make a hard decision. Soranno's rent was due on the 25th. In order to afford rent for that month AND pay for treatment, he would have to sell his Jeep.
He went on social media and started a YouCaring page (Continuing the fight to keep Conan alive!) to help raise money for himself. On it, he wrote:
Well, here we are again. Who knew staying alive would be so expensive and stressful. I'm so moved by how much everyone has helped out so far. I am grateful beyond words and I'm working on personalized thank you cards because I want all of you to know how much it means to me and my family. (sorry they are taking a while.)It seems like the stress never ends. Even with all the help I'm still scared shit less that I can't afford my care this month and if I'm not able to sell my car this week I won't be able to afford rent. So once again I have to ask my loved ones, you, if you can pass the hat. I feel like I'm asking too much once again.... And I'm going to continue fighting so that I can give back to the world what it has given to me.. If... No, when I survive this I want to to volunteer to help at risk kids or volunteer at planned parenthood. I need to survive this, I have a heavy debt to pay. Currently I have the fundraiser set at 600 which is what I need to pay for my care this month. Honestly if I can't sell my jeep I need to come up with another 600 on top of that. I don't want you to stress your bank account. I don't want anyone going back to top ramen to help me.. I'm not that special. But if you can help, you know how much it means to me. I'd be dead now if it weren't for my friends. And fingers crossed that next month all my paperwork is straightened out so that Im able to pay a reasonable rate for everything.
By the time he realized the seriousness of his condition, he reached out to people he knew on social media at 3 AM so that he "wouldn't be alone" when he died.
This weekend was hell, but it has allowed me to bring up a serious topic. It's about being poor and why that is the biggest cause of death in someone who's fighting to survive.
I'll use my current situation as an example.
My rent is due the 25th.To afford rent I need to sell my jeep. On August 20th I started vomiting buckets full of blood. It also came out the other end as well. I think it's because they upped my blood thinners. I really should have gone straight to the hospital. It was really serious for a couple days. I even called people at 3am so I wouldn't be alone when I died. My rational that kept me out of the hospital was I couldn't go because then I couldn't sell my jeep and then I would be able to pay rent. Pretty f**ked up that some people have to make hard decisions like that. Hospital or homeless.