Bob Boyle Medical Fund (Undersea Divers, Beverly MA)

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mmerriman

Contributor
Scuba Instructor
Messages
906
Reaction score
343
Location
Boston MA
# of dives
500 - 999
Bob Boyle Medical Fund by Whitney Boyle - GoFundMe

Bob Boyle is a local business owner in Beverly MA, where he and his daughter Whitney work at Undersea Divers. He has a rare condition that affects his mitochondria (called MERRF), so his muscles have weakened over the last decade and he has been in a wheelchair for quite some time. Despite this Bob drives and works, and enjoys traveling on trips to Bonaire with his customers. He has an incredible drive to make the best of this terrible disease.

On a recent trip to Bonaire, Bob fell ill with a respiratory infection and had to be hospitalized. While in the hospital he had a hard time breathing on his own and was transferred to the ICU. Due to the severity of the situation, the hospital in Bonaire could no longer care for him and he was med-evac’ed to Florida to receive care from a larger, more adequate ICU unit. He has been in the ICU in Florida since Tuesday, March 24. His daughters, Whitney and Mariah and their mother are staying in Florida and are with him everyday.

While we are incredibly grateful that Bob had Divers Alert Network (DAN) insurance to cover the air ambulance to take him to Florida, however, there are other bills that have already accrued. We are raising funds for his family to pay for the medical expenses that will not be covered by insurance, for their stay in Florida, and for lost work for one person without benefits.

Bob is currently in the ICU in Florida and a machine is breathing for him. We are thinking positive thoughts but it is unclear what the future will bring. When he is awake he can communicate with us by pointing at things and spelling words. (He can’t speak with the machine breathing for him.)

We will be transparent here about what funds have been spent on so you know the money was spent properly.

An estimate of the funds needed to date:

Bonaire Hospital stay (March 20-23): $6,152.82 (Insurance will not cover out of the country hospital stays and we had to put this on a credit card before leaving Bonaire)

Accommodation in Florida (hotel, rental car): approx $1,850 thru 4/1

Lost salary (for someone without benefits): $1,785 thru 4/1

Mariah's flight to Florida from Bonaire: $323.05

Additional expenses TBD

Running total = $10,110.87

If you prefer to use paypal you may send funds to Mariah Boyle, Bob’s daughter, at boyle.mariah AT gmail.com. (Paypal’s administrative fees are lower so it’s a good option.)

We anticipate there will be additional medical bills later in this process for his stay in Florida, and when we know what those are we will update the amount here. If funds over the amount needed are raised they will be donated to the Divers Alert Network in hopes of helping another person in a similar situation.

We understand money can be tight for many people. If you cannot donate funds, we ask that you share this page in hopes of spreading the word as well as spreading awareness about Mitochondrial Diseases. For more information about Mitochondrial Diseases, head over to mitoaction.org . We cannot thank you enough for the outpouring of love, well wishes and prayers we have received for our beloved Father. It means so much to us to have the support from his friends and the community.
 

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