Las Vegas NowWoman Takes Brother's Health Care Fight to Twitter

Woman Takes Brother's Health Care Fight to Twitter

A local man is in the hospital in need of a heart transplant. His sister is now to turning to social media, like Twitter, to bring attention to his case and problems with America's health care system.

Eric De La Cruz needs a heart and his sister says she's made this public because time is of the essence.

Veronica De La Cruz is very tech-savvy. Once an internet correspondent on CNN, she's now working on her brother's behalf. Her 27-year-old brother has a potentially-deadly heart condition. "Eric's very sick. He is in the hospital right now with severe dilated cardiomyopathy," she said.

Check out Eric's website
Follow Veronica on Twitter

Veronica says Eric recently took a turn for the worse and has been hospitalized for the last week. "He's on three different IV's and right now the doctors are kind of depending on these IV's to keep him alive," she said.

Veronica has taken Eric's cause to the internet. Her followers on Twitter are expressing messages of support and comfort. Others are contributing money toward his medical expenses. She says Eric's illness has taught her about another problem with health care.

"He's not even on a list because you can't get on a list until you have insurance," she said.

Veronica has paperwork showing her brother has had one setback after another in getting coverage to treat his weak heart. "He's very ill and the fact that he has been denied a couple of times, to me, is mindboggling. It is baffling," she said.

A champion of social media, Veronica is encouraging her online friends to contact Nevada's Congressional delegation. She's hoping Eric's story gets results. "What I think the headline is, ‘The health care system in this country is broken.' Period. In the meantime, somebody's life hangs in the balance," she said.

So far, they've raised about $5,800 for Eric's medical expenses. That's a far cry from what he needs.