Editorial
A tourist’s staggering medical bill while on her US holiday has gone viral.
Amanda Sesio, from New Zealand, visited Los Angeles for a cousin’s wedding when she was rushed to emergency services on July 1 for shortness of breath.
Doctors diagnosed her with pneumococcal pneumonia, a bacterial infection, and she was put on life support to help her fight the illness.
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Sesio also suffered hypoxemic respiratory failure, blood infections and a fill-up of fluids in her lungs, meaning she was unable to attend her relative’s special day.
After receiving treatment, the tourist returned to her home in New Zealand and then received an invoice valued at $AUD200,000 for her medical care.
As she is unable to cover the costs, Sesio’s brother has launched a GoFundMe page.
Its description states: “My family and I decided to start this GoFundMe page to assist us in paying the large medical bill Amanda is now faced with paying, which is $150k USD.
“Any donation, no matter the size would help us in covering Amanda’s medical costs and we would be forever grateful for any support we receive.”
Addressing the fundraiser on her Facebook page, Sesio penned: “Well I soon knew this time would soon come… to be a little vulnerable and share something with you all and kindly ask for a helping hand.
“On the 24th of June, I was like a giddy teenager running around airports excited to go to the big Los Angeles to represent my family who couldn‘t travel at a family member’s wedding.
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“Only I, unfortunately, didn‘t make the wedding despite fighting every day to put on a brave face and hope I miraculously felt better the next day.”
She went on to describe the ‘rollercoaster’ of events, continuing: “The rollercoaster has although slowed down, (Praise the lord!), there are still a few bumps ahead. One being this very, very large number that is now my medical debt.”
The woman continued by thanking the ‘amazing specialists, doctors, and nurses’ who ‘saved her life’ while she was in the US.
She concluded the post, writing: “It hasn’t been easy learning to accept or ask for help, it’s certainly something that doesn’t especially come easy to us Pacific people … but if you do feel so inclined to give, and are in a position to, any amount at all is deeply appreciated by myself and my family and helps us make a small dent in the bill.”
So far, Sesio’s fundraiser has raised over $22,000.
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