Lucas Bocel

UPDATE FEB 11th
Lucas is still not complaining of any pain, but his appetite is very low and he is very thin. We bring him pedialyte and gatorade and Ensure so that he is getting as much nutrition as possible with the little he eats and drinks. We also continue to bring him lunch five days a week which always takes a long time for him to eat. We ask him if he needed or wanted anything but he said that he didn't. It is amazing that he never complains about his devastating situation. Here is our most recent photo taken of Lucas. Thank you for your support of this brave, young man.

--------------------------------Original Post------------------------------------

Lucas Bocel is 24 years old, and for the past year he has had a very severe stomach illness. Before his illness, Lucas had started to build a home for the family he was hoping to start in the next couple of years. Unfortunately the illness put a halt to everything, and Lucas had to move back to his mother, Yonada’s, home. Yonada has 7 children, 5 of whom live with and are supported by her (she has 2 sons who are married). Yonada makes tortillas for a living, and her daughter sells tamales at the market, but together they make less than $2 a day, and this is hardly enough to cover the cost of food and electricity. Before tropical storm Agatha, Yonada was able to get extra help from her father and sons, who worked pulling sand out of the river. However, the natural disasters practically destroyed that means of livelihood, and so her father and 2 able-bodied sons are unemployed and cannot help her. Lucas used to work in the river, too, but hasn’t been able to help his family because he is so weak. Because of the illness he has been confined to his house; he can get up from the bed only to go to the bathroom. Lucas uses about 4 rolls of toilet paper a day, which is a huge strain on the family, especially because Yonada often has to skip work to sit by her son’s side when he has the worst fits of pain. The grief often keeps Yonada from eating; it does not look like Lucas will be getting any better. Lucas nevertheless remains hopeful—he is very often found reading the Bible and praying for a cure—but it pains him terribly to be such an emotional and financial burden on his family.

To build his home for a future family, poor Lucas took out a loan that he had expected to easily pay back, but because he cannot work, he is borrowing from neighbors and extended family so that the burden does not all fall on his mother. He has 600 Quetzales ($75) left to pay back to the bank (including interest) and does not know how he will do it. Your help would remove from the family the great financial strain that sits atop of the suffering that the family endures due to Lucas’s illness. To make a donation, please click here and enter "Lucas Bocel" in the Other section. Thank you so much!