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BREAKING NEWS | |
BOY WHO LOST MOM TO PROTEST AGAINST HEALTH INSURANCE COMPANIES
March 09, 2010
(WASHINGTON, DC) -- Today will be an unusual day for a 5th grader at Seattle's Orca K-8 school. He’ll be in Washington D.C. taking part in a protest rally against insurance companies organized by Health Care for America Now, a nationwide lobbying campaign.
And while he’s there Marcelas Owens plans to tell his story to lawmakers and speak at a hearing about health care reform.
For Owens, reforming health care isn’t about sound bites on the nightly news or getting into the best position for the next political election season.
For Marcelas Owens this is personal: he’s been campaigning for changes in the health-care system since his mother died after she got sick then lost her job and insurance coverage. He was 7 when his mom passed away.
His mom, Tifanny Owens, was working as an assistant manager at a fast food restaurant when she began suffering from vomiting and diarrhea in September 2006. By October of the same year she had missed so much work that she lost her job — and her health insurance.
Her condition grew worse with time.
Owens' mother said her daughter avoided regular visits to a doctor despite frequently throwing up blood. In June 2007 she died at the age of 27 after a week of unconsciousness, leaving behind Marcelas and his two younger sisters.
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