THIS University of Manitoba student is more than 11,000 km from home, his face is covered with crumbling skin, and the lung cancer he's battling has left him to manoeuvre around his tiny two-room Cumberland Avenue apartment with a wheelchair cobbled from spare parts. But 21-year-old Shou Hao has a greater concern.
BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Chinese U of M student Shou Hao fears his medical coverage will run out.
This August, the medical insurance for the second-year Chinese international student will end if he's too sick to return to school -- or sooner, if Hao maxes out his student medical insurance coverage of $600,000. "I just want to continue my treatment. It's saving my life," said Hao, who explains his name is pronounced like 'Sure How' in English, a language he's carefully studied since arriving in Canada in 2005. Hao is not a Canadian citizen and is working toward his computer engineering degree at U of M, he says. The university is trying to help Hao as much as it can. Healthcare coverage available to students like Hao may just be enough as it stands this year. To attend the university, foreign students must enroll in an annually renewed health plan, called International Insurance, that pays for hospitals, doctors and any other medical service. It's capped at $600,000 a year.
If that runs out, which rarely happens, there nis another healthcare plan to fall back on. All full-time students must also be enrolled in a second plan which covers services like prescription drugs and physiotherapy care that isn't covered by medicare. It's available through the University of Manitoba Student Union. "The university has been supporting the student through the International Student Centre and we hope the best for him," university spokesman John Danakas said Thursday. The international student centre is helping the student out in any way it can. When asked about the painful-looking sores on his face, Hao has a simple response. "It's OK, it's how I know the drugs are useful," he said, referring to the side effect from doses of the cancer-attacking drug Tarceva. "It's a bit..." He makes a gesture as if he is scratching his face. Since his November 2006 diagnosis of lung cancer, Hao's lengthy hospital treatments, thrice-weekly physiotherapy appointments and drugs have been paid for by his student insurance coverage, and have so far cost an estimated $400,000.
The Shenyang, China, native said, however, with the obvious severity of his sickness he will inevitably hit a financial wall when his insurance coverage reaches its limit. A single overnight stay in the hospital can be as much as $2,400, Hao says, and he still has a long recovery ahead. Members of the Chinese community, including many international students studying here, have been touched by Hao's plight and have banded together to try and raise money for him -- even if some have never met him. "I don't know him ...he's an international student, he has nobody to help him. We have to give him our help," said Gary Liu, who emigrated to Canada from China in 1992. Liu is president of a 50-member Chinese cultural performance group, Manitoba Great Wall Performing Arts, who've planned an event for tonight at the university to fundraise for Hao's medical costs. They've also set up a website to explain Hao's predicament. Liu heard of Hao from other members of the Chinese community, and said many Chinese here -- particularly Chinese international students -- feel compelled to help fund Hao's recovery so he can finish his degree. "We have to do something," said Liu, who explained students were shaken by the notion that disease could spell the end of their academic dreams. "We can use our talents to help...they have same situation. They put their heart into it." While Hao's mother, who doesn't speak English, is currently in Winnipeg to assist him with his home care, his father remains in China working to support them. Hao is their only child. With a gentle voice and careful vocabulary, Hao talks about waking up last fall in extreme pain, after a summer of futile visits to Winnipeg walk-in clinics -- and going to Victoria General Hospital to complain of his ailments numerous times, only to be diagnosed incorrectly. It wasn't until he woke up one day last fall unable to move his lower body that he finally received attention from a doctor who submitted him for more extensive testing. He said his friends literally carried him into a hospital emergency room. Hao said he simply wants to survive, and for other international students to be aware of the dire circumstances they face if they fall seriously ill and do not have adequate insurance coverage. "Their life cannot be guaranteed," he said. "They have limits, if they get seriously sick." gabrielle.giroday@freepress.mb.ca WHAT'S BEING DONE TO HELP SHUO HAO? THE EVENT: Chinese Cultural Dance Performance WHEN: Tonight at 7 p.m. WHERE: U of M University Centre, Second Floor HOW MUCH: $5 admission -- Proceeds donated to Hao's medical care fund
thanks to 天天 |
