CEBU, Philippines — Those close to Jonathan Gant say he’s a man with a big heart—and now it needs mending.
“I’m proud to call him my friend,” Tabarak Farah told KIRO 7.
On Dec. 24, his life changed forever—the 40-year-old from Skyway suffered an aortic dissection – a tear in his heart. It happened while he was in the Philippines.
“John just fell in love with the people here,” Tabarak said.
John met a group of children in one of the villages that captured his heart.
“He was like, ‘I have to do something for them.’ He told me he wanted to go get gifts for them,” Tabarak told KIRO 7.
During his shopping trip— the unthinkable happened.
“He collapsed right in front of the mall, he couldn’t see straight, his chest hurt, he fell down and he almost doesn’t remember anything about that time period,” Tabarak said.
He was rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment. He needed to undergo surgery to repair the tear, but Tabarak says they ran into a problem: a blood shortage.
The hospital said it could only provide six out of the 15 bags needed for the surgery.
“They asked us to help source the blood,” Tabarak told KIRO 7. “We’re not from the Philippines, we don’t know the system, we don’t know anybody here.”
Racing against the clock, he enlisted the help of their other close friend, Alicia Cunningham.
Across the globe— and in different time zones -- they searched for O-positive donors.
“Without that blood, they would not do surgery,” Tabarak said. “If he did not get surgery he would pass away. That was it. We needed to get people in the chair.”
Alicia began posting on social media and reaching out to anyone who might have a friend or family member in the area – asking them to donate.
“I was able to make a post and I found six people,” she told KIRO 7. “One person was at the hospital with Tabarak 20 minutes after I made that post.”
Without the surgery, his friends said he wouldn’t have made it past the weekend. Unfortunately – there’s still a long road ahead of them.
Alicia shared with KIRO 7 that Jonathan has Marfan Syndrome. It’s a genetic disorder that affects the body’s connective tissue and can cause a wide range of physical and medical issues. She also noted that his arteries are uniquely shaped; they are wider at the top and smaller at the bottom. She said doctors there are unsure what to do next.
“Any physicians that specialize in Marfan’s that can maybe talk to the doctors in Cebu, we are looking for that to help save his life.”
Alicia and Tabarak told KIRO 7 that friends and family have put together a GoFundMe to help pay for Jonathan’s hospital bills. If you’d like to donate, you can click here.