Group raises $21K for cancer-stricken Pinoy
A migrant advocacy group based in New Zealand announced that it has already raised more than $21,000 to help a Filipino migrant worker diagnosed with cancer.
Roderick Catuday originally went to Oakland, New Zealand on a quest for citizenship there. Unfortunately, a few months after his application for a permanent residency, it was discovered that he had acute myeloid leukaemia.
Doctors in New Zealand who checked up Catuday said the patient has only a few months to live if the cancer remains untreated.
Dr. Simpson, a consultant haematologist at North Shore Hospital, thought an email from him to immigration authorities might help speed the process - but it backfired.
When Immigration received news of Mr Catuday's illness, his work permit application was suspended and his wife Emelita, 41, an accountant, was given only a one-year work permit.
"I feel totally let down by New Zealand, and really am at a loss," said Mr Catuday, 42, a father of three children aged between 12 and 15. "We have given up everything in the Philippines and felt so upbeat about becoming Kiwis, and then this happened and now we don't know what to do."
Only people who are in New Zealand on at least a two-year work permit, or New Zealand and Australian citizens and residents, qualify for public health funding, meaning Catuday would have to pay about $150,000 for his chemotherapy.
His wife wrote to Health Minister David Cunliffe asking for help.
The minister said he was not able to offer any assistance, but suggested they go to Auckland City Hospital, where the chemotherapy will be performed, to arrange for staggered payment to help ease their burden.
"We are broke, so even staggered payment won't help," said Mr Catuday, who said his family were solely dependent on his wife's income of about $450 a week after he had to stop work because of the illness.
Catuday’s doctor said his only crime was "bad luck".
If his cancer had struck a month or two later he would have had his two-year work permit approved and gained full access to public funding.
Agnes Granada, coordinator of the Migrant Action Trust, said that as of March 16 the cash and checks donated for Catuday’s chemotherapy have reached a total of $21, 675.
"More contributions are forthcoming and some friends are organizing fund raise activity," Granada said an email to media organizations and other networks of the group.
In a separate email, Granada said it would be easy to raise the $150,000 needed for the treatment of Catuday.
"It’s not costly to raise the amount he requires if 5,000 migrants contribute $30 each," ABSCBN News
Roderick Catuday originally went to Oakland, New Zealand on a quest for citizenship there. Unfortunately, a few months after his application for a permanent residency, it was discovered that he had acute myeloid leukaemia.
Doctors in New Zealand who checked up Catuday said the patient has only a few months to live if the cancer remains untreated.
Dr. Simpson, a consultant haematologist at North Shore Hospital, thought an email from him to immigration authorities might help speed the process - but it backfired.
When Immigration received news of Mr Catuday's illness, his work permit application was suspended and his wife Emelita, 41, an accountant, was given only a one-year work permit.
"I feel totally let down by New Zealand, and really am at a loss," said Mr Catuday, 42, a father of three children aged between 12 and 15. "We have given up everything in the Philippines and felt so upbeat about becoming Kiwis, and then this happened and now we don't know what to do."
Only people who are in New Zealand on at least a two-year work permit, or New Zealand and Australian citizens and residents, qualify for public health funding, meaning Catuday would have to pay about $150,000 for his chemotherapy.
His wife wrote to Health Minister David Cunliffe asking for help.
The minister said he was not able to offer any assistance, but suggested they go to Auckland City Hospital, where the chemotherapy will be performed, to arrange for staggered payment to help ease their burden.
"We are broke, so even staggered payment won't help," said Mr Catuday, who said his family were solely dependent on his wife's income of about $450 a week after he had to stop work because of the illness.
Catuday’s doctor said his only crime was "bad luck".
If his cancer had struck a month or two later he would have had his two-year work permit approved and gained full access to public funding.
Agnes Granada, coordinator of the Migrant Action Trust, said that as of March 16 the cash and checks donated for Catuday’s chemotherapy have reached a total of $21, 675.
"More contributions are forthcoming and some friends are organizing fund raise activity," Granada said an email to media organizations and other networks of the group.
In a separate email, Granada said it would be easy to raise the $150,000 needed for the treatment of Catuday.
"It’s not costly to raise the amount he requires if 5,000 migrants contribute $30 each," ABSCBN News
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