Celebrities raise thousands for health on Twitter

News Correspondent Richard Lui

Eric De La Cruz is just one of the more than 100,000 people waiting to get an organ. According to the government, 18 of them will die today waiting. This number has only grown in recent decades as donors and funding remain low.

Do you twitter? Impressed that it's now a healthcare tool?

Eric was already in need of a heart. Three IV’s are keeping him stable. Despite his dire condition, he can’t get on the national donor list.

He has two options to get on the list.

His first option is through his state’s program. But because he has Nevada Medicaid and Nevada has no transplant centers, he has been turned down from getting on the list.

His second option to get on the list is to go to another state like California where there are transplant centers. He would have to move his case there with support under the federal Medicare Disability program. He was rejected twice, and his next appeal hearing is in a year. The family says he doesn’t have that kind of time.

Another issue, Eric’s family says they’re required to have $150,000 in the bank as a down payment to get on the list. The operation is estimated to cost at least $800,000. Eric’s family had managed to raise only $6,000 as of two weeks ago.

So, as daunting as his situation sounds, his family, understandably, is not giving up. They have gone public to try to put a solution together. His sister Veronica De La Cruz, a former employee of CNN, has ignited a grassroots effort through her Twitter account at @VeronicaDLCruz.

The Twitter conversation has raised not only local interest with reports from KNTV and KLAS in Nevada, but celebrities are also taking notice, including Nine Inch Nails front man Trent Reznor. Reznor posted a request on the band’s website to give special backstage access if they donate to Eric’s fund. <a href="http://store.nin.com/helperic/ In five hours, it raised some $220,000 according to Eric’s sister.

One week later, over $850,000 was raised. Reznor says there was so much interest, he had to stop his offer of VIP access at North American concerts because there was no more room. With that amount, part of the family’s dream could now be answered with enough money to pay for the operation.

Reznor is not the only Hollywood name to lend his support on Eric’s sister’s Twitter account. There’s also Collective Soul, Demi Moore, Kelly Clarkson, Star Jones, Al Roker, and Alyssa Milano.

This case has brought attention to the national health care debate, as well as local attention, as Eric’s family pushes U.S. Senator Harry Reid (D-NV), Nevada’s governor, and other politicians, to try to help cobble together a solution for Eric and so many others who are caught in a similar situation across the country.

What do you think the solution is? What does this say about health care red tape? Should it be up to each family to raise these funds in such cases? And where does Twitter fit in all of this—should the national donor list incorporate more alternative awareness tools such as social media to gain support for the numerous “Erics” that are out there?

Join in the conversation; leave your comments below.

Posted by: Political Correspondent Richard Lui
Filed under: Your Turn