Using Twitter to Help Get a Heart
May 19, 2009 by Liz Lewis
Filed under Announcements, Exposed!, Healthcare
What do you do when someone you love is in need of a heart and healthcare red tape is getting in the way? Well, if you are former CNN reporter Veronica De La Cruz, you use Twitter and other social media networks to get the word out.
Veronica’s brother Eric is suffering from severe cardiomyopathy (a disease that enlarges the heart and makes it incapable of pumping blood effectively) and desperately needs a heart transplant. But because he registered for Medicaid in a state (Nevada) that has no transplant center, authorities will not put him on a list for a heart transplant in another state. It’s bureaucratic red tape at it’s worst and highlights America’s flawed healthcare system.
The irony of it all is if Eric was living in another state -one that had a transplant center – he would already be on transplant list.
Veronica and her family have been lobbying the government in an attempt to get them to look at this flaw in the healthcare system but time is running out.
So Veronica is reaching out to people through Twitter to rally support to break through the red tape and get her brother on a transplant list.
Want to help? You can use the power of social media to bring new pressure on authorities in this matter by twittering about Eric’s plight (use hash tag #ERIC), lobbying the government (addresses and a form letter are here), and maybe even donating a dollar or two.
