Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 29, 1991 TAG: 9103290444
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MELANIE S. HATTER/ NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: SHAWSVILLE LENGTH: Medium
He's knocked on 2,000 doors in Shawsville and Christiansburg, "and I've got blisters on my feet to prove it," he said. He said he'll walk around Blacksburg, and Roanoke, too, if he has to.
The Elliotts need $80,000 so his wife of 29 years can get a liver transplant at the University of Virginia Hospital. She contracted hepatitis from a blood transfusion when she had open-heart surgery in 1972, Elliott said.
In two weeks, he's raised only $169 and is afraid she won't last until he can raise the rest.
Leona Elliott, 50, is covered by Medicaid but it doesn't cover liver transplants, he said.
Elliott, 54, has spent the past two weeks contacting people to help him. He had no idea where to start and is learning as he goes along, he said with a laugh.
He laughs frequently as he explains his predicament.
"If I didn't, I'd be crying," he said with a shrug.
Networking is the key to getting help, according to Barbara Watson of Christiansburg, who also is awaiting a liver transplant.
Her medical expenses are covered by Blue Cross and Blue Shield and, with the help of friends, she's had little financial difficulty, so far.
"When I see people like Leona Elliott, I don't feel like I need it yet," Watson said.
Her transplant will be done at the Falk Clinic at Pittsburgh Presbyterian University Hospital, where she met volunteers who help transplant patients find discount air fares, taxis, beepers, and offer counseling.
With their help, she wants to organize a similar group in Southwest Virginia to help transplant patients, including information on establishing trust funds, raising money and listing people who can help transplant patients.
"There's a lot out there; it's just a case of getting it compiled," Watson said.
Going door-to-door, Elliott spends about 15 minutes explaining who he is and what he needs. He carries a clipboard of letters and documents to prove he's not a con man.
"Everywhere I go people have suggestion after suggestion but they don't want to help," he said. At least, it seems that way, he added.
He called television evangelists, including Pat Robertson and Oral Roberts, hoping they would advertise his need to raise money, but they couldn't help him because of other obligations, he said.
He even tried, unsuccessfully, to contact billionaire John Kluge of Albemarle County, who recently paid the bills for an English boy to have a brain tumor removed at the UVa Hospital.
Elliott has grown bitter over the past few weeks, but he said the small things keep him going.
One elderly woman told him she could only afford to give a dollar. If only he could find 80,000 more people like her, he said.
The Seneca Baptist Church, where the Elliotts are members, gave what they could but the congregation is small and most are retired, he said.
Elliott quit his job with the Roselawn Memorial Gardens to devote all his time to fund-raising and caring for his wife.
The Elliotts have six children and without their support they'd be on poverty row, Stan Elliott said. But they're not far from it.
His wife's disability check doesn't quite match the monthly rent payment, and he fears sooner or later the electric power and telephone will be cut off.
"I'm going to keep going until the last minute," he said. "I'm praying she stays for six months before going into a coma," because it'll take that long to raise the money.
Leona Elliott sleeps about 14 hours a day now.
"What hurts me more is people, who say they're friends, asking me why I don't work, but if they only knew what I had to do," Elliott said, wiping his forehead with his fingers.
In addition to caring for his wife, Elliott has taken on the role of housekeeper and baby-sits for his 4-year-old grandchild for extra money.
Leona Elliott has put her faith in God.
"I know with the Lord's help I can get" the transplant, she said. If going door-to-door is the only way to get the money, "I'm willing to beg for it," she said.
She never smoked or drank a day in her life, her husband said, and now she is on the verge of leukemia because of a blood transfusion that was done before mandatory testing.
"I can't go back to work," he said. "She might die on the operation table after all this, but at least I know in my heart I gave my all to save her."
Donations can be sent to Liver Transplant Fund for Leona Elliott, University of Virginia, Department of Hospital Admissions-Medical Center, Box 411, Charlottesville, Va. 22906-9983, or call (804) 924-2619.
Barbara Watson can be reached at (703) 831-5453.
by CNB