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Carmaletta Kaye Morlock Zandi

by The Morlock Foundation from Buffalo, NY

It's about helping those in need around us. It is about opening our eyes to the needs of our community and stepping up to make a difference, one life at a time.

Our son Donovan was born with heart disease. After three open-heart surgeries, a kidney surgery and other surgeries, he was in need of his fourth open-heart surgery. We were told that the insurance would not pay for this surgery because we would need to go out-of-state for it. The bill was estimated at over $750,000. There was only one problem: we didn't have the money. We didn't even own a home to take a second mortgage out on. With a lot of persistence and effort, we found a surgeon in the state who agreed to take on Donovan as a patient and do the difficult surgery on his heart. Then the insurance company agreed to pay at least the 80%. This would leave us with $150,000 but that is not what mattered; what mattered is that we could get the surgery for our son.

We then watched the movie John Q and realized that we were not the only family overwhelmed by our child's disease.

7.5% of children have a disease: cancer, heart disease, asthma, congenital HIV, fetal alcohol syndrome, Down syndrome, and the list goes on and on. 61.5% of families with insurance whose children suffer from diseases and/or disabilities do not have all the procedures, hospital bills and other medical bills covered.

The physical and emotional problems of children often lead to emotional and financial problems for their parents. The extra stress of caring for a sick child, taking him/her to all the necessary appointments, receiving medical bills not covered by insurance companies, and fielding phone calls from bill collectors can put a family over the edge. Solving the problems of these families is very complex and time-consuming.

We started The Morlock Foundation and dedicated it to our family who showed us how strong we could be together and how tough it was when we were apart.

Page created on 7/25/2005 12:00:00 AM

Last edited 7/25/2005 12:00:00 AM

The beliefs, viewpoints and opinions expressed in this hero submission on the website are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the beliefs, viewpoints and opinions of The MY HERO Project and its staff.

Related Links

The Morlock Foundation - Helping families dealing with diseases and disabilities to survive

Extra Info

One out of every five people lives with a disease or a disability. The more severe disease or disability, the more overwhelmed that person's family can become. Such a situation can lead to increased divorce, bankruptcy, and suicide rates. Winning the long-term fight against insurance caps and insurance rate payments requires a new generation of leaders who understand the complexities and responsibilities of living in an interconnected community. A caring community can help those around them survive.
 

Author Info

MY HERO asked Carmaletta to talk a little bit about her project and the defining moment that prompted her to take action and mobilize others to effect change in the lives of families in her community. Here is her story: