Hello everyone,
My name is Dave, and I recently migrated to the United States from Philippines just four months ago through a petition by my mother. Starting over in a new country is never easy, but I was willing to face every challenge for the sake of giving my family a better future.
Just four days before my flight to the U.S., my wife gave birth to our first baby. It should have been one of the happiest moments of our lives, but our newborn son was diagnosed with neonatal pneumonia shortly after birth and had to be confined to the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). On top of that, my wife had to undergo a cesarean delivery, adding to her physical recovery and our growing medical costs.
Because of the complications, our baby had to remain in the hospital for two more weeks. The hospital bill reached nearly ₱1,000,000 (around $20,000 USD). I was already set to leave for the U.S., and from thousands of miles away, I did everything I could to help. I maxed out my credit cards, took out loans, and borrowed just to pay for the hospital expenses and get them the care they urgently needed.
Now I am here in the U.S., working two jobs just to stay afloat. But with the weight of that debt, plus the cost of supporting my wife and baby back home, my paycheck is often barely enough to cover the essentials. I’m overwhelmed, exhausted, and often feel like I’m drowning. Some days I don’t even want to go to work but I think of my baby, I think of my wife, and I get up and keep going.
What makes this even harder is that I can’t bring my wife and baby here with me yet. The immigration process will take five years or more, and until then, we are forced to live apart. Every day, I miss them terribly but I continue to fight for them from a distance.
Thank God, my baby is healthy now, and I am beyond grateful for that. But the financial burden left behind has been crushing.
I am humbly reaching out to ask for your help. Any amount you can spare will help me pay down this massive medical debt and continue providing for my family while we endure this difficult separation.
If you’re not able to donate, I understand. Sharing this story with others would also mean the world to me.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading, for caring, and for giving me hope during one of the hardest chapters of my life.
With deep gratitude,
Dave
