11 Year Old Eduardo Waits for Lifesaving Meds - Can Piolin Por La Manana Help?

11 year old Eduardo Salazar lies in a hospital bed tonight waiting for his friends in America to raise money for medication he needs to live.

Family and friends say withoout the help of someone with a lot of clout like Radio Star Piolin Por La Manana, his chances are poor.

"It is an illness that hits one in a million" said close family friend Tim Paynter, an attorney in Denver, Colorado.

"We are devastated it had to Eduardo." Paynter said.

The little boy who once had bright eyes and big dreams of becoming a soccer star shifts uncomfortably in his bed.

"Mom, when can we go home" he murmurs in a weak voice.

Eduardo will be going home very soon if his US friends are not able to come up with the $400 a day Eduardo must have". The Mexican health care system is not funded for the designer medication Eduardo needs.

"Maria Salazar Rivera is an icon to me", Paynter said. "She has lived a tough life and she never complains. When things are hectic she stays calm, ready to meet each new challenge head on. This challenge is the hardest one ever."

"We will take you home soon" she replied hiding back the tears she knows will worry her young son.

"When we got the diagnosis, Tim translated it using Google Translator." Kennedy continued. "It took us a long time to get an idea about what little Eduardo is facing."

How about Hemophagocytic Limpohistiocytoces? If that does not mean anything to you, don't fret. Most people won't recognize the name.

How about HLH? Most people have not heard about that either.

How about "Epstein-Barr Virus-associated HLH is almost universally fatal if untreated..."

"We knew Eduardo was really sick", Paynter said, tears welling in his eyes. "We didn't know that he could die within the next month or even days without treatment!"

HLH is a rare syndrome that takes two basic forms. One is hereditary and the other infectious. Gamugobulin is the drug of choice but when the infection includes the Epstein Barr Virus, the survival rate is 20%, according to sources. With a cocktail of medications his chances dramatically improve.

"We would like to bring him to the US" said Paynter.

"I spoke to an expert in childhood diseasess" Erin Kenndy said. "He recomends a transport to a hospital that specializes in this illness, or maybe even Children's Hospital in Denver, Colorado."

Paynter and Kennedy say if you don't have money for advanced medicine in Mexico they send you home to die. Eduardo was about to be discharged when Paynter and Kennedy heard the story through a relative living in Denver.

So Eduardo's Friends starrted looking for funding. "We are hitting all of the bases", Erin said. "We all pitched in and now we are asking the community for hep."

Kennedy said Eduardo has enough money to pay for a day or two of treatment. They want to bring Eduardo to one of the few clinics that specialize in HLH. The treatment therapy in Mexico appears to be the minimum therapy recomended even at $400 a day. Eduardo's chances increase significantly with advanced medications.

It would take the clout of someone like Eduardo Sotelo, they call him Piolin Por La Manana, to help raise the money Eduardo needs, plus clear customs according to Paynter.

"My colleagues and I can make the case but it was the expert legal team and clout of television station Univision that kept Eduardo Sotelo in the country." Paynter noted.

Paynter was the "gurro expulado" on Piolin's march on washington. Paynter says secuity guard Rafa did not believe a guero could be on the pro-immigration side and the left him at a truck stop in Amarillo, Texas.

Bowing his head, Paynter said through his tears,

"We may not have the ability to raise money and open the border fast enough"

Paynter went on to say one never knows when a ittle boy is destined to find a cure for cancer when he grows up, or to be an icon for peace like Ghandi, or to help convince Mexico's mega-billionairs of the wisdom of including the poverty stricken in the Mexican economic structure.

"Who knows" Paynter said, clearing the tears from his cheeks, "We are asking the Latino media for support including another famous radio star Cu Cuy for help. "maybe Eduardo will be a famous radio star like Piolin Por La Manana!"