My brother Salim (pictured here with the very charming Wally the Cat)
Fall/Winter 2024 Campaign - $1086 of $20,000 goal, raised
Emergency Fundraiser for my Brother Salim
My brother Salim has Stage 4 Liver Cirrhosis – a fatal condition where without a transplant, he will die. We don’t know how much time he has left so the situation is urgent.
Salim has lived a pretty healthy life in spite of a lot of medical challenges, so we don’t know if this is his diabetes or related to Long Covid, but he needs help, right now.
He’s been very tired the last year & spends most of his days deeply fatigued in bed & he has already had several hospital stays following visits to the emergency room (dangerous sugar spikes to high blood pressure to go with his liver problems)
I’m trying to raise enough money to help primarily with his living expenses. He’s been out of work for a year and has been now moved to long-term disability. On top of that, he’s dealing with all manner of challenges in terms of back pay/proper compensation & unfair labor & management practices which is putting his health in greater jeopardy. His benefits are at risk and due to various health issues when he was diagnosed with cancer at an early age, he requires a lot of medication to manage these various health conditions. Losing his benefits & his access to medication will be equally fatal.
Doctors in Ontario can also charge additional fees. Common uninsured services include writing sick notes, or printing or copying medical records. Salim has been paying out of pocket three figures each time he’s having a note written for a claim where his insurance company is making things extremely difficult for him when it’s his right to be covered for certain claims. Recently, he was unable to pick up a new medication for his diabetes due to this kind of bureaucracy. It’s taxing him physically & mentally & I need him to focus on his primary job of staying alive until we can find him a living liver donor.
This fundraiser is for his rent over the next few months & it’s to cover his medication expenses, for auxiliary payments that are not covered by OHIP for which he has to pay out of pocket & for his food as well.
I just want him to have time to rest and repair and prepare for a transplant. The goal is $20,000. I know that it may require a lot more, but if I know his rent and living expenses are taken care of, we can wipe out any of his additional debts & we can take care of him from a place of strength.
My brother Salim kept a roof over my head when I wasn’t able to do the same for myself. I’ve seen my dad go through this & die young & I don’t want him or my family or his wife to go through the same. I don’t have the words to adequately speak to how much I love him but also deeply appreciate him for what he did for me.
Visit the link below to contribute to his emergency funds & if you have any questions or want more information on how you can become a living donor (for him, for anyone) don’t hesitate to contact me at rahim@viciousminuteshour.com
Update: January 14th, 2025
I’m now doing a marathon of performances to help raise more funds for Salim. It’s been going very slow the last couple of months where he can go a couple of weeks without a donation. I’m hoping that by uploading as much creative work as possible in performance, it at least draws more attention to his fundraiser and to his search for a living liver donor.
We’ll be uploading recordings for three different initiatives.. Click on the title of each below to be taken to the links.The first two are:
This Poet is Dust
We’ll also be uploading a new audio drama about Post-War Rexdale in the coming days.
Update: December 19th, 2024
We’ve expanded our search to find a living liver donor for Salim to a nationwide campaign to help anyone who requires a transplant to save their life. There’s a link on this site & on the site we’ve dedicated to Salim. Those links are:
https://www.viciousminuteshour.com/living & https://www.findsalimaliver.com/living
In talking with various provincial health units across the country, there’s a level of bureaucracy that is getting in the way of potential transplant patients accessing timely care to save their lives. It’s not the fault of the health units or the Doctors or any of the other medical professionals - it’s just a system that needs a bit of updating to meet the needs of patients now & going forward. While advocating for these changes, if we’re going to do the work to find Salim a living liver donor, why not use that labour as well to help many others? Being familiar with the systems impairing progress, I have the ability & time to help others as well. So if you’re curious as to what you can do to make things easier for others in the province you live in, I encourage accessing those links and getting in contact with me, should you wish to help.
Update: September 15th, 2024
The situation with my brother is dire. I can tell that things are really beginning to slow down for him in a way that feels quite familiar with people I’ve loved & lost. I feel like we’re getting closer to either a living liver donor or some kind of situation where he will receive a transplant, but he’s in danger of being moved to long-term disability with his employer, which will negatively affect his employer insurance for his medication & pay. Our family is doing our best to support him but we can’t do it alone. So if you have anything to spare, click on the ‘Donate’ button & help us save his life & take care of him.
I’ve also put up a separate website to help us navigate the living liver donor transplant process - you can find it here: Find Salim A Liver
We’re at a point where he’s going to need this transplant soon otherwise it’ll be too late. If there’s a way to spread the word to your community/city/province, that he needs a transplant, please do so. You never know who’s going to read this & decide they want to be a living liver donor. I will gladly help you navigate the application process. Please reach out if you feel compelled to help at least spread the word (& thank you if you do)
Be a Living Donor
If you’re interested in becoming a living donor to my brother (or being tested to help a friend, family member or stranger down the line) here are a series of links that will be updated on a regular basis where you can learn more. Even if you’re not a match for my brother, the living donor programs allow you to give the gift of life to someone else & for both of you to have a long, healthy life.
A reminder – even if there isn’t a program listed here in your specific city, contacting these organizations in your province/territory allow you to find out how to you can participate in a Living Donor program.
Provincial Programs - Canada
UHN - https://www.uhn.ca/Transplant/Living_Donor_Program
London Health Sciences Centre - https://www.lhsc.on.ca/multi-organ-transplant-program/living-donation
Canadian Blood Services - https://www.blood.ca/en/organs-tissues/living-donation
BC Transplant - http://www.transplant.bc.ca/organ-donation/living-kidney-donation
Alberta Health Services - https://www.albertahealthservices.ca/findhealth/service.aspx?Id=5853
Saskatchewan Health Authority - https://www.saskhealthauthority.ca/your-health/conditions-illnesses-services-wellness/all-z/tissue-organ-donation/about-donation
Transplant Manitoba - https://www.transplantmanitoba.ca/decide/living-kidney-donor
Transplant Québec - https://www.transplantquebec.ca/en/living-organ-donation
Atlantic Canada - https://www.motpatlantic.ca/Home/LivingKidneyDonorProgram