Richard and his wife Vickie own and work on their family farm in Western North Carolina. For many years, they were therapeutic foster parents who specialized in caring for foster children with fetal alcohol syndrome. Over the years they fostered 12 children and ultimately adopted two children that they had fostered. “We’ve dedicated our whole lives to kids,” Richard said.
Vickie recently became eligible for Medicare, but Richard has been left without access to health insurance for decades. They don’t make enough money from their farm and Richard’s small jobs to be able to buy private health insurance, but he does not qualify for Medicaid.
With Richard’s long history of heart disease and heart attacks, this makes them nervous for their future. “My dad had a number of heart attacks, my mom had a heart attack and stroke, my dad’s brothers, cousins have all had heart disease,” he explained.
And Richard doesn’t know what he’d do if he had a heart attack. “I’ve thought about it a lot, if I find myself in that situation,” he said. “I think, as soon as you get in an ambulance, the meter starts running on the bill. And if it gets real serious, everything’s in jeopardy, everything we worked for… If I had a heart attack, would I go to the hospital? The more I think about it, I think I wouldn’t do it.”
Want to see more of Richard’s story? Watch Left Behind: Health and Hope in North Carolina, a short film featuring community members and health professionals from across North Carolina sharing their challenges and triumphs as they strive to take care of themselves, their families, and their communities.