Now might be a good time to go ahead and cancel humanity.
This week, a heartbreaking headline about a 7-year-old from Alabama went viral. The local CBS report highlighted the story of Liza Scott, who set up a lemonade stand inside her mother’s bakery to raise money for her multiple brain surgeries.
Liza has three malformations on her brain, and in order to cover the cost of her life-saving operations and related expenses, she has tragically been hustling to sell lemonade.
“She has three cerebral malformations,” Liza’s mother and Savage Bakery owner Elizabeth Scott said. “One is what they call a schizencephaly. So it’s a cleft in the frontal lobe in the right side of her brain, and we think that’s what’s causing the seizures.”
The Scott family is heading to Boston’s Children’s Hospital next week for the first of these surgeries. Even with health insurance and after purchasing additional insurance, the cost of the medical and travel expenses are already nearing $10,000 out-of-pocket.
“I can’t handle it. So, I hope I make it,” Liza said. “My mom keeps saying I’m going to, but I feel like I’m not.”
In addition to selling lemonade, the family has been seeking donations using a Mightycause page.
“As a single mom and the financial supporter of both of my children, this is not something you can budget for,” Scott said.
After the story went viral, the donations surpassed the page’s $75,000, hitting $186,493 as of this post. Outrage at Liza’s situation and the state of healthcare in the U.S. drove many to promote the family’s page and criticize the local news station for characterizing Liza’s situation as a “feel good story.”
When all life gives you is lemons, maybe it’s time to demand a better healthcare system.
