Health-care heartbreak

While the national debate over the recently upheld Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, continues to rage, the core of the issue has hit home for Adam Russo and Stephanie Sullivan. On July 2, a parent’s worst nightmare befell the Chico couple when their previously healthy 2-year-old son, Austin, died unexpectedly of heart failure.

“Austin was always smiling,” said Sullivan, 30. “He made everybody smile, even if you were across the room.”

The couple’s grief is compounded by the fact that they were medically uninsured. Bills have reached $187,000. Sullivan and Russo, like 30 million other medically uninsured Americans, fell into the gap that looks to remain open until Obamacare kicks into place in 2014.

In the meantime, the community has rallied to support the couple, as demonstrated by an all-day softball-tournament fundraiser and merchandise auction Saturday, July 14, at the Hooker Oak Recreation Area. It featured nine 10-player teams, each donating $200, along with 24 products and gift certificates donated by local businesses. Russo’s co-worker Janae Frutos organized the event with the help of Troy Yartz, an organizer for Northern California’s National Softball Association.

The fundraisers brought in $3,200, most of which will go toward funeral costs.

Two days before he died, Austin came down with a fever and was experiencing breathing problems, suffering from a condition known as aspiration pneumonia. By the time an ambulance arrived the child was clinically dead.

Signs of hope emerged an hour after arriving at Enloe Medical Center when Russo was allowed into his son’s room as doctors worked to revive him. Russo, 31, began whispering words of encouragement into his son’s ear, and within 15 minutes a seeming miracle occurred: Austin’s heartbeat came back; he began moving his arms and legs and seemed to try to talk. Needing more intensive child facilities, he was flown by helicopter to Sacramento’s Sutter Memorial Hospital.

“I wasn’t allowed on the helicopter with Austin, and that’s when his signs began dropping drastically,” Russo said.

The child spent 48 hours on life support at Sutter before he died.

“At this point I can’t sleep, I can’t eat, I’m throwing up and looking for my boy everywhere,” Russo said, referring to the days after the child’s death.

Though Russo admits his family is broken now, he says he couldn’t be happier with the support from the community, including his employer, Sleep Train Mattress Center of Chico, which gave employees two days off for the funeral and Russo as much time as he needs. Russo called the fundraiser “awesome.”

Frutos, his co-worker, said she was happy to take the initiative for raising funds.

“I’ve never done anything like this before,” she said, “but I really enjoyed spreading the message through word of mouth, phone calls, Facebook and ads in the papers and TV.”

Yartz, from the National Softball Association, helped gather the teams with just more than a week’s notice.

“We got about 100 players, and several spectators handed me envelopes with donations,” Yartz said.

To pay the bulk of their bills, Sullivan is trying to reinstate their Medi-Cal coverage, which they hope will cover them retroactively. It was cut off just three weeks before their son’s death when Russo, the sole breadwinner in the family, earned two higher-than-normal commission checks. They are also applying for California’s Healthy Families Program, which covers uninsured children.

Those fearing similar problems may be encouraged by the passage of Obamacare, planned for full implementation by 2014. The California HealthCare Foundation recently estimated that 8 percent of Californians, people now unable to afford insurance, including about 17,600 Butte County residents, will be covered under the plan.

Families such as Russo’s will more easily qualify for Medi-Cal, which will cover families earning 33 percent more in wages than is currently allowed. For those with higher wages, Health Benefit Exchange subsidies will help them buy insurance by earning tax credits, said Tony Cava, a representative of the state Department of Healthcare Services.

For now, Russo and Sullivan said they are grateful for the support of close friends, family and co-workers, as well as the Chico community. Those wishing to help with expenses can donate to the “Austin Skyler Russo Memorial Fund” through Rabobank in Chico. Call 899-2347 for more info.

Sullivan says she’ll always remember Austin as a bundle of joy.

“In the mornings I’d find him at our screen door waving at neighbors shouting, ‘Hi, see you soon!’” she said.