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Helping out
‘A really good friend’

By Jon Valentine

Students at Corona del Sol High School have donated more than $9,000 over the last few weeks to help Rick Ramirez, the school’s longtime equipment manager, meet medical and extended-leave bills incurred as the result of a kidney transplant.

Ramirez, who has worked at the school for the last 15 years, underwent the operation Jan. 27 at University Medical Center in Tucson. The donor was his wife, Elaine.

It isn’t just the physical trauma of major surgery that have confronted the couple.

They face high medication expenses and the cost of Rick’s 6-week hotel stay in Tucson so doctors can continue to monitor his recovery. School district insurance covers only the cost of the operation.

Now, thanks to the efforts of two faculty members and the generosity of Corona’s students, the family has a lot less to worry about. Longtime driver’s education teacher and boys soccer coach Fran Bader joined forces with security guard Curtis Bagley to organize a faculty-led fundraiser to help offset the hospital charges.

“After I heard about the costs, I…mentioned to a few people that it would be nice if we could have a fundraiser,” Bader said.

“I didn’t want him to have to go get surgery and then have to worry about where the money is coming from.”

Although they were generous contributors, students didn’t get involved in the organization of the fundraiser. Planning the program and communicating their efforts were entirely the work of faculty members.

“We had a faculty meeting, and the faculty really felt that Rick is part of the family, even though he isn’t a teacher here,” Bader said. “He’s just a really good friend to a lot of us.”

As part of the fundraiser, Bader and Bagley organized a walkathon for Corona students, teachers and members of the community. It was held the morning of Feb. 7 and was attended by more than 140 people. Roughly $2,000 was raised at that event alone. Another $7,000 has been contributed since then.

Bader says he is excited about the amount. The goal was only a couple of thousand dollars and, so far, more than $9,000 has gone into the fundraising coffers.

“I’m proud of the school,” Bader said.

“It was great (that) the faculty was behind him, and then the students really got behind him with all these donations.”

Luckily, Ramirez thus far has encountered no unexpected difficulties with the surgical or recuperation processes.

Not only Rick was in danger, however.

Doctors say that, with most kidney transplants, the donor experiences more pain than the recipient; this has been the case with the Ramirez family.

“I was definitely in more pain than him after the surgery,” Elaine Ramirez, Rick’s wife, said.

“The doctors explained to me that this was because they are taking my healthy body and making it sick, whereas with Rick they are making a sick body healthy again.”

Currently, Rick Ramirez is recovering at a pace considered normal for kidney recipients. He is restricted to eating certain foods, but other than his dietary limitations and twice-weekly visits to the hospital, Rick is functioning as normal in Tucson.

He describes the whole surgical process as “quite an experience.”

Rick and Elaine were both surprised when they first heard that Corona students had raised so much to help them with the medical costs.

Neither yet knows exactly how much the entire process will cost, but say they’re appreciative of the money Corona students have given.

“We were really surprised,” Elaine Ramirez said. “I thought it was a really nice gesture for them to do that. It has helped out a whole lot.”

Bader agrees:

“The kids here at Corona have really stepped up to help somebody out.”

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