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  • 1 year ago
A 29 year-old Mechanical Engineer's life has become one of confinement to a hospital bed.

He has been diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of blood cancer.

Fearful that he may not have long again to live, he is pleading with the country for help to get the treatment he needs abroad to save his life.

Alicia Boucher has his story.
Transcript
00:00jonathan lorick was living his life as a mechanical engineer working and tutoring cape
00:05students on the side as one of his goals was always to help people but in 2021 lorick was
00:12diagnosed with stage 3 testicular metastatic cancer his life took a drastic turn with 28
00:19rounds of chemotherapy and a surgery that lasted several hours lorick endured and fought and finally
00:25the cancer went into remission he began getting his life back together he got another engineering job
00:32began saving teaching but in 2024 he was dealt another blow speaking to tv6 news virtually from
00:40his bed at the san fernando teaching hospital 29 year old lorick recalls the moment it went downhill
00:47i wasn't able to see a lot of things started to go wrong with me i couldn't like um at that
00:55time i started to have multiple fevers my immune system crashed doctors later made a diagnosis
01:04lymphoblastic lymphoma a very rare and aggressive blood cancer and i i have been living in the hospital
01:14more or less for since like um february of last year basically i've been a year in the hospital
01:23lymphoblastic lymphoma spreads quickly causing symptoms like shortness of breath weight loss
01:29persistent coughing chest pains and fatigue problems in the health care system such as medication not
01:35being available on time and a lack of blood in the blood bank only serve to delay lorick's treatment
01:42the doctors have been nice but the system itself is really really hard to navigate he's consistently
01:49tired in pain needing morphine ulcers cover his inner mouth and his fevers are spiking at over 102 degrees
01:56fahrenheit it's really really really hard you know and then the pain hurts sometimes it hurts so much
02:10much but i try to keep positive despite everything that i go through lorick needs a stem cell transplant
02:20and has sourced the hospital clinica imbenacio in colombia to get it done estimates for the treatment are
02:26100 000 usd a gofundme account and local efforts have raised around 12 000 usd and lorick says the
02:35government has committed to giving 10 000 usd with 78 000 usd still needed and all his savings depleted
02:43from hospital bills lorick who says he has never asked for money in his past is pleading with the
02:48population this is the first time i felt like i've got to ask but i feel like this is the only thing i
02:57could do right now because this is the first time i feel so powerless any amount that will help me get
03:05treatment and you know save my life because i think i just have like about a three month three to four
03:12month you can donate at republic bank account number nine four zero zero five one two four zero nine zero
03:21one or to the gofundme account in his name lorick's blood type is a positive and he also needs blood
03:30the donors alicia boucher tv6 news
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