[ALST-L] please read

[Besnik Pula]

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Date: Fri, 26 Nov 1999 12:43:13 -0500
From: canos <canos at wabash.edu>
Subject: Help, please
To: webmaster at albanian.com

Dear Albanian Webpage Webmaster,

My name is Sokol Cano, and I am a senior at Wabash College in Indiana, USA.  I
am in your list of Albanian webpages, and I currently operate a webpage of the
Albanian Students studying abroad.  I am writing you today for a very specific
and important reason.

Ilir Kullolli is a friend of mine who is currently a freshman in Cerro Coso
Community College in California, U.S.A.  He is extremely sick, and he is in
dire financial need to help finance his operation.  Following is a message I
have posted in my own webpage at

http://persweb.wabash.edu/student/canos/ilir-help.htm

Please take a moment to read this message, or follow the link.

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PLEASE HELP
A Page Dedicated to Helping Ilir Kullolli,
an Albanian Student Abroad in Fight for His Life

A friend of mine, Ilir Kullolli, is an Albanian student currently studying as
a freshman at Cerro Coso Community College in Ridgecrest, California. Apart
from being a good friend of mine, he is also a very active member of this
Albanian Student Webpage, as you can see from the Guest Book. He currently
lives with his American host family in Ridgecrest.

However, in what came as shockingly tragic news, in the beginning of November
Ilir was diagnosed with Aplastic Anemia, which is a very rare but extremely
dangerous blood disease. This means that his bone marrow has stopped producing
white blood cells and platelets, entities necessary to our body for fighting
bacteria and infection and for blood clotting. In fact, his immune system is
gone down to zero. The doctor's prognosis is not very good, and he is
constantly under intensive care down in Los Angeles Medical Center. In short,
he would die if put off medication. His only survival chance is bone marrow
transplant. As any kind of transplant, Ilir needs someone whose DNA and blood
type is as close to his as it can be. Currently, Ilir's American host family
is making every effort possible to get his mother and sister to come to
U.S.A., because his sister might become a bone marrow donor.

But as difficult as this is, Ilir's main problem, as you can easily imagine,
is the financial one. The operations are extremely expensive, as the doctors
put the cost at over $100,000. Ilir's host mother, Cindy Edwards, is trying to
get money donated for Ilir. That is where we Albanians could help. Anything,
absolutely any amount of money you could donate, would go towards helping Ilir
become independent again and go on with his life. No transplant probably means
the worst for him. I understand the difficult financial situation we all
Albanian students are; I am one myself. But anything, no matter how little,
could add up and make a difference. If you could help, there is no way Ilir,
his real family and his host family, his friends, and anyone who knows him,
could really thank you. Otherwise, there is not much else we can do for him,
other than having him in our thoughts.

So, if anybody could help, please make your checks be payable to:

United Methodist Church (tax-deductible as a charitable contribution)
639, North Norma
Ridgecrest, CA 93555
(for Ilir Kullolli)

If you would like to pass some messages on to him through e-mail, you can
write them to Ilir's host mother, Cindy Edwards, at frontier at iwvisp.com. She
will print them out and read them to him at the hospital. If you would like to
write to him, you could send your letters to:

Ilir Kullolli (Ward 4B North)
Olive View UCLA Medical Center
1145, Olive View Drive
Sylmar, CA 91342

Thank you for your time, and thank you all for helping Ilir live normally
again!

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Given this difficult situation, I would ask you to post this message, or link
it to my webpage, on the Albanian Webpage.  I understand the Albanian
Webpage's purpose is to inform the entire world on Albania, and not to deal
with such personal situations.  Nevertheless, I am asking to save a human
life!  If you could please post this message anywhere in your webpage, so that
other Albanians who might know Ilir or who would like to help could do so, I
would have no words to thank you with.

I thank you for your time, and I hope in your understanding and empathy.
Thank you for being the world's gate to Albania on the internet!

Sincerely
Sokol Cano

Sokol Cano
Address:         201 Morris Hall, Crawfordsville, IN 47933
E-Mail:          CanoS at Wabash.edu
Tel:             (765) 361-7222
Fax (personal):  (209) 391-3948
Web:             http://persweb.wabash.edu/student/canos

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