Can anyone help? Our good friend and rosity member Bonestructure is in urgent need of medical help. I want to get some cash to him pronto!, like today! but It can't be done from the UK so fast, between one thing and another. Is anyone willing to take a credit card payment through my verified paypal account or some other means and bike or cab the goods to him so he can get on down to the hospital and pay the pharmacy? There must be a way to help this man now? Thanks for listening. Brendan.

Brendan in the US we can wire money through Western Union, it only takes minutes to wire it from one place to another, I'm not sure if that is available in the UK? I saw his post in the yahoo refugee forum, my heart and prayers go out to him, hope we can help somehow.

Thanks Teri, afraid it is more complicate and time consuming from this end, what with the arbitrage an all!, besides they would take about 20% which I would rather be spent on medication. Cheers!

Attached Link: http://www.westernunion.com/

The other question is, can Ron get to the Western Union office, and if so, which one is nearest?

I searched the WU website, and there are several on Amarillo Blvd. (See map.) Not sure if that's convenient to where he lives. There may be closer ones. If you know a street address, you can do a more detailed search.

I will have a go! Thanks.

Would the fees be less if you PayPal'd the money to one of us here in the U.S., and we wired cash to Bone? Also, has anyone heard from Ron? It won't do him any good if he can't get to the WU office to pick up the money.

I haven't heard a word from him since his post this morning subject line "ME"......maybe he went to the hospital...let's hope he did. He hasn't been feeling well at all for the past few weeks seems things have only gotten worse, and the stress of the events from ripping out the OT might just have compounded his problems.......stress always has a negative effect on health issues :(

It would be a lot less through PayPal. The WU seems good as well from the ease of use angle, if the man can get there? I shall send him a private email and try to raise him. The Guy has been very quiet, I hope someone has got to him! I will let Bone choose what he wants and deal with it straight away. I get the feeling that he ain't well enough to get down there himself. I feel so bad!, I meant to send him something days ago, but time just slips by. Cheers Randym77! I did need some support!

...and you too Teri! x

I hope he called 911 or went to the emergency room. They can't turn you away if you go to the emergency room, and it sounds to me like his is a true emergency. I wish there were someone local who could check up on him.

Best I can tell, Scarab is in Amarillo. Of course, Scarab is also AWOL (or something). The only other member I know that's way out there is lalverson.

I wonder if it would be worthwhile to IM or e-mail Scarab? Maybe he just got tired of the OT forum, but is still around Rosity?

Is there a way we can contact the Pharmacy directly? I would be more then happy to help but dont have a lot of time right now to research thru all the posts as to what or who we should contact.....that is if our response is needed so soon.

Sorry, I forgot to say...I don't live in the area but would be willing to contribute.

Sacarab last logged into Renderosity on 5/10/04 (yesterday).

Thanks genny! we are waiting for his nibs to surface to find out what to do next.

Scarab is doing fine... I'd drop him an e-mail...

"his nibs to surface" This is probably OT but... I'm not familiar with this expression. What does it mean?

Tell me when a connection is made to Bonestructure, so that I can send some cash in.

Attached Link: http://www.quinion.com/words/qa/qa-nib1.htm

Bone just surfaced over at Yahoo. Hopefully we can get something worked out now.

Thanks for the translation.

I also feel bad..I told Bone Id help him a looonnnggg time ago..and right after I did, I fell on hard times myself, and had no way of helping him..all I can offer now is prayers. Hope he is ok.

And just what is Bonestructure's medical problem? Has he actually cried out for help? If so, point me in that direction. I'd also like to help if needed.

Bone spoke of his problems in the now-defunct OT Forum. He's posted a few messages to the Yahoogroup some people have set up to replace the OT Forum:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rosityofftopichideout/

See the thread with the subject ME.

Basically, he's disabled, diabetic, out of work, and can't pay for the prescription drugs he needs. He's very sick, with what he thinks is a systemic staph infection. But he wouldn't go to the hospital until it got really bad, because they'd only prescribe him drugs he can't pay for.

A friend was taking him to the hospital this afternoon, and we haven't heard anything since. Brendan ended up PayPaling me the money, and I am ready to Express Mail it to Amarillo. But I'm worried that if he's been hospitalized, there will be no one at his address to sign for it.

What's up? I just found an email from Randy77....what's happening with bonestructure? Scarab

Do we know what hospital he's in? Or a doctor's name? Family?

If he's been hospitalized, he will be taken care of for the time being....the money can come later.....I have to go out for a couple of hours but will check back as soon as I get back. S.

As of yet, we don't know if he's hospitalized or not. I guess if don't hear from him tomorrow, we'll have to assume that he is.

I just visited his web site. I'm wondering if the address listed for his home is current? I'd like to wire money immediately. I'll ask in the Yahoo forum as well.

Scarab, I brought up your name earlier in the thread because someone from the U.K. was trying to find a way to get money to bone. As I recall you live close to him. That's why you were emailed - we were going to see if it would be possible for you to get the money to him if he couldn't get to you for some reason. I'm not sure that's necessary now, although several others in this thread have indicated an interest in helping out.

Yes, I believe that is his current address.

Brendan wanted to get cash to Ron ASAP, because Ron wouldn't go to the hospital if he didn't have money to pay for the drugs they'd prescribe. Just didn't see any point to it.

He ended up PayPaling me the money, but I could still refuse the payment and have Brendan send it to Scarab instead, if Scarab can get it to Bone faster.

Scarab, if you don't have a PayPal account, or don't have the time to do this, then feel free to say no. I can send it Express Mail.

I dont have an account that would allow me to receive money that I know of. If, like I said, bone was that sick and went to the hospital it is almost a certainty that he will be admitted and treated. I will see if I can find something out tomorrow. They are, of course, very reticent about releasing any info due to the new laws. Sending money orders to his home probably would be the easiest though I would hold on express mail. If he is hospitalized they may return anything other than regular mail if he is not there to receive it. In an emergency, the first thing to do is to take your own pulse. Let's not panic. For future consideration....we need to suggest to bone that he get his own paypal account that allows us to send $. S.

I'm not sure what the laws are about that, but I know alot of websites have "please support this website" paypal connections. HEY!....does bone's website maybe have that already!!!??? S.

Bone doesn't have a PayPal account. I'm not sure he even has a checking account. These days, banks accounts are pretty much for the well-off. If you can't maintain a minimum balance (often as much as $1,000), they charge you all kinds of fees. That's how those check-cashing stores make money. They charge a percentage to cash checks for people who can't afford bank accounts.

Hi! guys, 11am here, Bone has not replied to my last three mails since he told me he was heading to the hospital ( yesterday afternoon ). I hope that is where he is at right now. The Deadwood Stage or Pony Express would have got there faster in the good old days! Cheers everyone.

I am sure that is the situation randym77. The guy is caught in one of those loops that are really difficult to get out of.

"Bone has not replied to my last three mails since he told me he was heading to the hospital ( yesterday afternoon ). I hope that is where he is at right now." As of 10:30 local time, it appears he is. I am not privy to any other info on his condition. But I am familiar with the hosptital and he will receive good care. S.

Great stuff, thanks Scarab.

Thanks, Scarab. At least we know he's being taken care of. I'm not that familiar with how money orders work. The few I've gotten, I always deposited in my checking account. Can he cash them at the P.O. or something, if he doesn't have a bank account?

It would be nice if there was a charity set up for digital artists that need assistance. Lately there seems to be a need for one. =(

Thanks for taking the time to check, Scarab. It's very kind of you. I was worried about him. I think it would be better to send money when he gets back home. Could you keep us informed if you have some more information ? Thanks again. Now I can say I know a really compassionate conservative... ;)

I will, though I am unlikely to be able to get much. Hospitals really don't release info over the phone anymore. What does it take for someone like bone to setup a PayPal account which he can receive money from? He really needs something like that so we can get money to him in the future. Scarab

He'd need a bank account to set up a PayPal account. Otherwise, he'd have no way to withdraw the money. The best way to take money from a PayPal account is to transfer it electronically to your bank account. (They charge a fee to cut you a check, and once they mail it to you, you'd need a bank account to cash it, anyway.) Maybe he's got a local friend, who has a PayPal account, or who'd be willing to cash checks for him?

This is frightening, I don't know any of the folks involved here but I do know what diabetic complications are like, I've had diabetes 34 years, and if Bonestructure has an infection he need's all the proper medical support he can get. So many times I've heard of similar circumstances from my friends in the US and it makes me so thankful that I live in the UK and am able to get all the prescriptions I need without the worry on top of how to pay for it all. My only hope is that the US will eventually see the sense in having a health service that is more like the UK, which will take care of all it's citizens no matter what earnings bracket they happen to be in. I do hope that you can all get the support to Bonestructure asap, my thoughts are with him. Catlin

Don't know if this will help any or not..
If a personal account is set up in Paypal there are no fees but I think there's a monthly dollar limit. ($500?)
A business account charges a fee anytime someone sends dollars, but it has the advantage of having a debit card which can be usually be used anywhere Mastercard is accepted.

Sorry.. Forgot to add that you still need a bank account but I don't think it has to have to be a large amount in it.

The problem is that no one can afford to have a bank account with a small amount in it. Most of them require a minimum balance ($500-$1,000), and if you have less than that in it, they charge you a monthly fee that will quickly deplete the account. It really sucks. The days when you could open a savings account for your kid and let him deposit his allowance in it to teach him about interest are long gone. The only reason I could afford my first checking account was my college made a deal with HSBC to offer us special student accounts with no minimum balance.

One idea might be for him to open an account with an Internet bank. Netbank, or something like that. They tend to have lower minimums ($50), or none. He could transfer the money into the account from PayPal through online transactions, and withdraw it from an ATM. (There would be fees for using the ATM, but they'd be minor.)

But I'm not sure how easy it is to open an account with the online banks. I think they checked my credit history before they let me open an account.

Really, the easiest would be for a friend in the area who has a checking account to either open a PayPal account or accept and cash mailed checks for him. Maybe Bone can suggest someone trusthworthy, when he's out of the hospital.

My account doesn't require a minimum balance...so there are some places out there. It probably helped I opened the account in a college town. They tend to cater to poor students (to some extent). Might be something to consider.

Please keep me posted on this..I'd like to help Bone in anyway I can.