The family of a Merida man who died from COVID-19 is now scrambling to pay an 800,000-peso hospital bill.
Esteban Adolfo Carrera spent 18 days in a private hospital, including eight days on a ventilator, before he died. The bill is equivalent to US$36,000.
Relatives are raising funds with a raffle, selling 250-peso tickets on Facebook, and awarding prizes ranging from a laptop computer to meals and perfumes. An auction on Facebook Life is scheduled Saturday, Aug. 15.
The name of the private hospital was not mentioned. Most patients in Yucatan have been sent to public facilities, but some have opted for the limited beds of facilities not subsidized by government agencies. Since Adolfo Carrera was admitted, private hospitals in Merida have stopped admitting coronavirus patients, apparently out of space.
Rommel Pacheco, the Olympic diver from Merida and a friend of the family, helped publicize the drive on his own social media platform.
“… Apart from unspeakable suffering they owe a a very large debt to the hospital; that’s why I ask you to … support by buying a raffle ticket for different products and help the family resolve this debt,” Pacheco wrote, in Spanish.
