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October 21, 2009
Denis Campbell's Email

(Note: Denis is doing fundraising for Paula's Medical care. He had suffered a stroke and has recovered, changed to a healthier life style. Running Marathons is part of that. As you can see, he maintains an overall sense of humor about himself, but never forgets it's about Paula)

My Chip time was 3 hours 4 minutes and 59 seconds. That meant I finished 8,642nd. On the positive side? I beat the guy who ‘ran’ in a full suit of armour by 30-minutes. On the other hand I was outrun by a guy dressed as Jesus dragging a wheeled cross, a fully costumed Welsh dragon, two other guys in silk pajamas and several barefoot runners.

At the finish, three of my kids; Chris Tara and Uma ran across the finish line with me (there was little chance of obstructing too many others at that point).
 
I never once stopped during 13.1 miles, ran the 1st 3 miles in a blistering (for me) 34 minutes and would rather not mention my time over the last 2 miles, (much too embarrassing set of numbers and let’s just say an 18-minute mile is possible while one is still technically classified as  “running.”)
 
½ Marathon Sunday’s weather was glorious and running along the Cardiff Bay Barrage as the sun rose high in the sky was just spectacular. Later, it turned cloudy and quite cold. When the course hooked into Sophia Gardens at mile 11, we headed down a long and narrow tree-covered roadway where the temperature dropped 3 degrees (C). My fingers and hands were so cold I almost could not continue.
 
That was when Bobby McFerrin’s silly song “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” played on my iPhone as two little girls dressed in their Sunday best appeared giving every runner a high-5 and a smile as we all struggled by. And then a woman passed me by with the simple sign on her back that said ‘Dad’ with an arrow pointing to her right (no one there but indeed there) to her father whose life cancer had claimed and for whose cause she was running. If it was not clear before, every step from that point on was for out of sheer will for Paula and there was no way I would let myself let her down.
 
So thank you for not letting her down and your help in raising some $2,000 for Paula’s care between the two races. There is still time for me to get one last beg in: you can easily with 2-clicks of your mouse donate here.
 
I was on BBC Radio Wales’ Jamie and Louise Show 1st thing Monday morning talking about the race and Paula as co-host Louise Elliott also ran. It was on their show in May I 1st committed to running. You can hear the interview here.
 
Thanks again so very much for all of your support. All of us on Team Paula are so very, very grateful.
 
P.S. I’ve managed to convince myself that a half marathon was indeed ‘enough’ so the London Marathon in April will have to soldier on without me!
 
Thanks again.
 
Denis Campbell

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October 13, 2009
Letter from Denis Campbell

I promise this is my next to last begging e-mail. To those who have given nearly $2,000 for Paula, I run the Cardiff half marathon on Sunday with deep gratitude for the support you have provided. Every penny raised means her 78-year old father Buddy, does not have to re-mortgage his home to care for his daughter, a woman who brought medical aid to thousands around the globe the last 30-years.

A year ago I could not walk up a flight of stairs without requiring an oxygen tank or Sherpa guide, the US Presidential campaign was entering its last frenetic few weeks and I was headed towards a mini-stroke that would change my life forever in ways I could not have imagined.

Team Paula has raised $28,000 of the $60,000+ needed. Anything you can do to help would be appreciated (click here). Any day now she will be transferred to a medical step-down facility so every penny is desperately needed. PayPal makes it easy to donate by credit or debit card with a couple of secure clicks. They are owned by ebay so your data is safe and even the smallest amounts help.

11,000 runners head out Sunday morning at 9:00. Each step already is a milestone for me. Those 13.1 miles (21 kilometres) are for Paula’s long-term recovery. I was so very deeply moved during the 10K last month. I feel so very honoured and blessed to even be able to run.

I travel to the USA at the end of the month on business and on that Halloween Saturday (Paula’s favourite holiday), will present her with the medals I received for completing both races and… ALL of your good wishes. Thank you again for anything you can do to help.

Best,

Denis Campbell

Just a note: Denis had a stroke and has made an amazing recovery through hard work and relentless effort to get healthier and stay healthier. He's not kidding about not being able to climb stairs not that long ago. Now, he runs marathons! He has dedicated his marathons to raise money for Paula's care.

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October 7, 2009
$28,700 Raised

Paula's friend, Denis Campbell, in Wales (yeah, WAAAY over there!) reports that a total of $28,700 has been raised to help Paula get the help she needs to regain her health.

I appeal to Tribes all over the US, as well as to right thinking people the world over, to take a good look at this woman and her work. Especially, the Tribal Council of Standing Rock in the Dakotahs.

This woman selflessly, tirelessly worked to save your lives and the quality of your lives by bringing information and help on Diabetes.

The vehicle that crashed into her has never been identified. Typical non-investigation on the part of Federal Agencies and the BIA. It shows you don't care what happens to those who care about you.

But I think that enough of you care about what happens to her that you will find a way to raise money to keep her on the mend. To me, it is thankless to not only allow her to get hurt and not investigate, but to allow her to rot in a minimum care institution because she can't afford to pay for the rehabilitation services required for her to regain use of her limbs and take care of herself.

Once again, the lack of insurance, Insurance that is too costly for many, and for those who have insurance, and are caught in a situation like this, in desperate need and unable to fight for themselves, this is when Insurance Companies cut you off. They take your money and leave you to rot.

We need Public Option, Single Payer health Insurance. We are the only Industrialized nation that does not provide health care for its people.  Good people are left to rot, to beg and to lose everything.

People like Paula. People who have done so much to help those who have so little. Now, it is her friends across the ocean who are running fund raisers to try and get her the help she needs.

WE need all of you to step up on this one. We need you to make contributions. And we need you to step up and speak up for Public Option/Single Payer National Health for everyone.

No one should suffer like this in one of the richest countries in the world. No one.

Insurance companies want you to feel sorry for them. Why? Because they will lose their billions of dollars in bonuses. Money they make by denying care to those who have paid for it.

Insurance Companies thrive on breaking contracts, and being unregulated. They have paid millions to members of Congress to stop us from taking away their right to steal from us and deny us care. They have spent more than $1 million per day to prevent the passage of true Health Care Reform.

They have people like Kent Conrad,D- ND, in their pocket. He is pushing to prevent health care reform. He is pushing to get bigger tax breaks for Insurance Companies. He is pushing to get 'tort reform' which means you cannot sue the doctors who butcher you because they are drunk or incompetent, and you cannot sue your insurance company for breaking their contract with you.

Conrad is there to protect the Billionaires in the Insurance Industry.

Who is helping Paula? A handful of dedicated friends.

Who is not helping Paula? Too many of those whose lives she saved or health she improved.

Step up folks. Get with it. Do what you can to help this woman. Clearly, Kent Conrad and his pals in the Insurance Industry are too busy taking your money for themselves to give a rat's behind.

$1500 doesn't begin to put a dent into the hundreds of thousands that will be required for her care. That money is already in the bonuses and salaries of the Fat Cats at the Insurance company. We need YOU. We need each other.

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August 24, 2009
Diabetes Angel --Printer Version (3)

There is a woman, Paula Persechini-Petitti, who has dedicated herself to helping Indian People learn about, treat and deal with diabetes.  She has worked on the Pine Ridge Rez in South Dakota, and was working there, driving on those worthless, unmaintained roads, when she was hit from behind. She is now in desperate need of donations from anywhere and everywhere to get the care and treatment she needs.

As you know, our health care, in our country, one of the richest countries in the world, is shamefully in 37th place in the 'developed' world when it comes to taking care of our own. There was no profit in Paula's work. Her hours were long and hard. She was dedicated. Now, she needs us. All of us, to reach out and give something back to her, just so she can live.

I say she was an Angel sent to us to help us when no one else would or wanted to. If we don't take care of our Angels in their time of need, there will be no more angels sent to us.

I am handing over this posting to a guest blogger, Denis Campbell, Editor in Chief of UKProgressive.co.uk, who has been championing her cause since the day it happened. I am including links to more information and to donate to her cause.

I am asking everyone who knows someone with diabetes, to pray for Paula. I am asking everyone who can, to donate whatever they can, to help this angel.

Bring Paula Home  The Story by Denis Campbell

Paula Persechini-Petitti Founder and Director
of
Black River Project

On 22 June, my high school friend, Paula Persechini-Petitti was delivering emergency diabetes health screenings across the Pine Ridge Sioux Indian Reservation. Pine Ridge was economically distressed in the ‘70s. It is now a 3rd world nation within the USA’s borders with a land mass the size of Connecticut and a road system equivalent to Zimbabwe.

Her car was rear-ended there at 60 mph (100 kph) placing her in a coma. Friends raised $18,000 in cash for an emergency medical life-flight from Rapid City, SD to home in Boston that her health insurance would not authorise. She is awake but requires long-term, highly specialized brain injury treatment. Paula’s case is another example of the broken US healthcare system.

Ironically, she spent her life bringing life-saving medical supplies and doctors to 3rd world ‘hospitals’ around the world through the BlackRiverProject.org. Now her insurance refuses to cover the $45,000 pre-payment required for a brain injury rehab hospital. They will park her in a nursing home. Such ‘parking’ though will not help her recover and she runs the risk of losing her home and financial ruin. So, she needs all of our help and… would never ask for it for herself.

I am running in two road races to raise funds for Paula’s care. On Sunday, 06 September, it’s the HSBC Cardiff 10K (6.2 miles) and on 18 October, the Cardiff 1/2 marathon (13.1 miles/21 kms). As many know, I had a minor stroke, 9-months ago. I’ve since lost 30 kilos (66 lbs/4.6 stone) through diet and running. My goal is to run in my 1st every marathon in London (at age 52!) in April, 2010.

Every penny you give helps ease the family’s burdens. We would be extremely grateful if you could consider a $5, £10 or €20 contribution (more, gratefully accepted!) here at the website www.BringPaulaHome.org It only takes a two clicks after entering your credit or debit card using the secure Internet PayPal system. Please insert the words: “Denis runs” in the more info field so they can keep track. With your help we can hopefully raise $5,000 for Paula’s care.

I wrote about Paula in several articles (1st one is third on the page). Paula never accepted “no” for an answer and has done the impossible for so many. She is fighting back and we can’t accept “no” for her. She is a once-in-a-lifetime “force of nature,” what would happen if Mother Theresa were crossed with Joan Jett. This e-mail is going to some 4,000 people with my advance deepest thanks for your kind attention.

All the best,

Denis Campbell

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Links to ongoing story of Paula (and other issues you might find interesting)

There were enough donations to get Paula home, but not enough for her ongoing care. She will be left to rot in a nursing home, with no therapy, just maintenance, if we fail to raise enough funds to get her into rehab. That rehab, as with most like it, will not accept Insurance. Reason being, that most Insurance companies take months to decide if they will pay or deny the claims. This leaves both the patient and the rehab on the hook for all the money that is not paid by the Insurance Companies, and which most patients can't afford.

People in Paula's condition, clearly, cannot fight for themselves, nor can they afford to hire a lawyer or advocate to fight the insurance companies on their behalf. That is one of the ways insurance companies manage to defeat the common citizen and defy compassion. They just don't pay. (Note: Public Option means that you can hold the government accountable for care. If they don't pay, they can be voted out. Insurance companies are full of executives whose names you will never learn.)

Interesting in these articles that Bill Frist, (R-TN) who is himself an MD, has fought to defeat healthcare and to deregulate Insurance Companies, making it even harder to hold them accountable. He also bashes IHS, which is drastically underfunded because of his cuts. He has never done anything to make health care affordable, available to us. But he has been a big friend to the Insurance companies and their CEOs who pay billions of dollars in bonuses to their CEOs every year. Now, he bashes the very program he has starved, for being weak and inadequate. Get your priorities straight folks. Without the Public Option, any one of us can be in Paula's situation. Our friends sent begging on our behalf, for something as basic as healthcare.

I say to those in Indian Country: Help this woman. She has probably saved more Indians through her relentless dedication to health and well-being in places the government would rather no one even look. Fail to help her, there will be no more angels because, clearly, they are not appreciated.

Clearly, it takes so little to help someone who has done so much. I know you want to help.

I am making a page just about Paula and will add it to the links so that you can follow the progress.

Our regularly scheduled blogging will resume --next posting.

Meanwhile, help those who are working to help Paula

You know where to find me.

~Cat

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