Meet Laura & Ben

Laura is Ben’s mom. Ben’s heart transplant, his startling cancer diagnosis, and the follow-up care he requires has left their family with an enormous amount of debt. Despite the challenges they have faced they remain optimistic because their son, now nine years old, is healthy. 

Speaking to parents that have incurred medical debt due to the medical care their children require has been heartbreaking at times because these parents continue to do whatever is necessary to ensure their children are safe and healthy. The care that Ben received saved his life but the medical bills burden his parents’ livelihood. The unpredictability of medical emergencies is a key factor driving medical debt. 

“In 2012 my son Ben was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy at four weeks of age. It enlarged his heart which compressed his organs. The blood was not [circulating correctly] and he had to have a heart transplant. In 2014 when he was two and a half years old, he got lymphoma. He started chemo [to shrink the mass in his abdomen]. Today he is nine years old and doing amazingly well. He loves baseball and usually makes the all-star team. You wouldn’t even know that he had a transplant.
Receiving the letter from RIP Medical Debt was awesome. Any little bit helps. It was very unexpected and so appreciated. From the bottom of our hearts—thank you all so much for relieving some of our bill.”