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Kady Royea

Mrs. DeBock

English 4 Honors

March 2019

The organ transplant list is endless; every day more people are added to the transplant

list while the donor list stays at a pause. Those who are in need of an organ are forced to wait for

a miracle to happen while they stay trapped in a prolonged hospital stay. Families do their best to

support their loved one but feel as if they are failing because of the heavy bills that go along with

there loved one's treatment and the money it takes just to stay close and visit. Wondering every

day where the money was gonna come from when instead they should be wondering about their

loved one and how they are doing. Nonprofit organizations provide these families and patients

the financial support they need. The organizations are available to those who need them. Organ

recipients receive financial, emotional and educational assistance through strong nonprofit

organizations.

Bill Coon was the fourth baby in the nation to receive a heart transplant. Bill lived a

normal and healthy life till he was 20 years old and was rushed to the ER, Bill had heart failure

and along with it kidney failure. Coon states that ”Throughout Bill’s seventy-day wait for the

double organ transplant, his family spent over $7,500 on a credit card in an attempt to be by his

bedside and show their support” (Coon).”On October 21, 2009, Bill received his second heart

transplant” (Coon,Bill). Later in life, he became a motivational speaker. Traveling the country

and talking to people with similar stories to his own. Bill learned the average family spends over

10,000 on medical bills, hotels, and meals during the prolonged hospital stays. Bill founded the

Keep Swimming Foundation. Now he spends countless days traveling the country and raising
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money to help families and individuals who are going through rough times due to hospital bills,

giving them the financial assistance they need to get through. The Keep Swimming Foundation

is a nonprofit foundation that strives to help as many families as they can through what can be a

stressful and terrifying time. Keep Swimming Foundation was founded by Bill Coon, who had

been through two heart transplants and a prolonged hospital stays. The foundation helps families

and individuals pay for bedside meals, parking, hospital bills, therapy, house bills and anything

possible one would need to be stress-free and work on recovering or helping their loved one

recover. The foundation takes in all the applications they get and decides who needs the money

and how much can they offer them. Because of all the application, the foundation has been

receiving, they had to find a new way to raise money so they can help more families. The junior

board is new to the Keep Swimming Foundation, the board made up of young high school

students who are interested in raising money purely to help people in need. The board will be

able to help decided how much money goes to the family the Keep Swimming Foundation could

not help.The article explains that the ” Keep Swimming Foundation has aided several families of

organ failure patients. In fact, in late 2018, Keep Swimming Foundation was chosen as a

preferred nonprofit by the Society of Transplant Social Workers” (Keep Swimming Foundation).

Bill Coon and the Keep Swimming Foundation benefit the organ recipient financially,

emotionally and give educational assistance by being there for the recipients and providing them

care in all forms. Bill Coon connects with the patient by being on their level and understanding

what they are going through. Bill is the true definition of a hero as he has been at the lowest

point in his life and fights every day to assure no one ever gets as low as he once was. Bills

foundation is a miracle that not only benefits but gives hope to the families who need it most.
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The father of a California family was on his way to get on a cruise with his wife from

Seattle to Alaska when he all a sudden collapsed and paramedics were called and within hours he

was placed on life support (Coon). All of the man's children flew into Seattle to possibly say

there last goodbye to there dad. After intensive care, he was diagnosed with interstitial lung

disease. Unfortunately, he was in desperate need of a bilateral lung transplant. The wife stated

that she had about 10,000 dollars in debt (Coon). Thanks to the Keep Swimming Foundation the

couple did not have to worry about the medical bills nor the expenses for her to stay close to her

husband. Fully covered and taken care of, the foundation gave them the chance to primarily

focus on his health and not the cost to keep him alive. The daughter of a family in Philadelphia

was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis and in need of a double lung transplant. “Like most

individuals on the transplant wait list, their daughter has been in-and-out of the hospital

undergoing various treatments as her condition changes over time” (Coon). During these long

hospital stays and numerous treatments, the young girls family went through numerous bills just

to be there and support her. Between hospital bills, treatments, gasoline, bedside meals, and

simple expenses you pay weekly and the daily two-hour drive back-and-forth from home to the

hospital the family was put into deep debt (Coon). The Keep Swimming Foundation helped the

family pay for the hospital expenses and the gasoline it took to go back and forth to visit there

daughter along with simply making the pressure of money not an issue anymore. The family had

more time to support their daughter than rather than worry about if they had the money to keep

their daughter alive. Both families were comforted and supported through a rough time in their

lives. To not have to worry about bills and where to get the money to provide their loved one the

treatment they need. The families were able to primarily focus on the health of their loved one.
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The Georgia Transplant Foundation is for only “Georgia residents” (Georgia Transplant

Foundation) but they help everyone in the state of Georgia that is financially struggling due to a

prolonged hospital stay due to an organ transplant. The foundation will also assist living donors

as well as recipients. The foundation is committed to “Assistance is available for hardship

expenses directly created by donation” (Georgia Transplant Foundation). Giving them housing

and financial assistance until they can get back on their feet. Hospital bills are pricey, adding that

on top of the normal bills one pays weekly. The Georgia Transplant Foundation has made a

mission to help everyone in their state that is struggling due to organ transplants. Although it is

not a national nonprofit organization it is beneficial and supportive to a smaller population.

Being only available to a smaller proportion the population allows the foundation to support and

help all those who apply and need the help within the Georgia state lines. The American

Transplant Foundation is a dedicated nonprofit organization that works to not only match donors

and recipients but help with financial battles that keep recipients from getting the transplant. The

national transplant list is prolonged and the donor list is at an agonizing pause. The American

Transplant Foundation raises awareness, persuading and informing the general population of the

need for not only deceased but live donors as well. The foundation offers educational, emotional,

physical, and financial support to the recipient during a prolonged stay at the hospital while

waiting for a transplant to save their life. The foundation believes it is important to Provide

educational, financial and emotional support to transplant patients and those who are waiting for

heart, lung, pancreas, intestines, liver, and kidney (American Transplant Foundation). If someone

decides to become a live donor they are offered financial support to make up for time lost out of

work. The ultimate goal of the American Transplant Foundation is to break the barriers that keep

donation and transplants from happening.

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Financial, emotional and educational assistance is given to organ recipients and their

families by strong nonprofit organizations. Nonprofit organizations work endless hours to

provide families and patients the support they deserve and need to get through the hard times. No

one wants to feel hopeless because of money debt while already feeling at loss of words because

their loved one is in critical care. More nonprofit organizations need to be created along with

more individuals need to donate so those nonprofit organizations can help larger quantities of

families and provider larger amounts of money. The organizations we currently have are a true

blessing through the transplant list grows along with the need for financial and emotional support

for the families living in and out the hospitals.

Works Cited

Coon, Bill. “Keep Swimming Foundation; Recipients Stories .” Email, Google Drive, 19 Mar.

2019,
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Coon, Bill. “Keep Swimming Foundation; Recipients Stories .” Email, Google Drive, 19 Mar.

2019,

Coon, Bill. “Keep Swimming Foundation; Recipients Stories .” Email, Google Drive, 19 Mar.

2019,

Georgia Transplant Foundation, gatransplant.org/financial-assistance/living-donor/.

Keep Swimming Foundation. “Keep Swimming Foundation Expands Its Mission and

Max Grant Value.” Keep Swimming Foundation, Keep Swimming Foundation, 25 Jan.

2019,.

“Let's Go beyond Awareness to Save Lives.” American Transplant Foundation,

www.americantransplantfoundation.org/the-challenge/.
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