Community Chat

[pinkskates4]

A restaurant owner near Houston, Texas is going to extraordinary lengths to help an employee facing a serious health crisis.

Brittany Mathis, 19, and her mother both work at Kaiserhof Restaurant in Montgomery, Texas. Brittany has been diagnosed with a brain tumor, but she doesn't have health insurance and hasn't signed up yet for affordable healthcare. The medical bills are piling up and treatment has stopped.

"I just can't be standing by and doing nothing," said Kaiserhof owner Michael De Beyer. "I have to try something because it's not right."

De Beyer is selling the restaurant and donating money to Brittany.

"Here's a family, they really work hard they have a lot of stuff against them in the past and they are not holding their hand open they didn't even ask anybody for help," said De Beyer.

In 2000, Brittany's dad John Mathis, had a brain tumor that no one knew about. When it ruptured, it was unexpected and fatal.

"I really think it’s an amazing blessing and can't thank him enough and his family," Mathis said. "Never thought that anybody would do that and he did and it makes me feel really good."

De Beyer said he has owned the restaurant for 17 years and believes it's worth as much as $2 million.

http://www.sunnyskyz.com/good-news/507/Texas-Man-Is-Selling-His-Restaurant-To-Pay-For-Employee-s-Med...

[croemer]

Wow...not many would do as he has.

[Marianne1]

I think he is wonderful for helping, but I do not understand why she does not sign up for healthcare asap.

[Marianne1]

And I wish her the absolute best with her treatment and health.

[pinkskates4]

I wonder what he will do after selling his restaurant, but somehow I think he's going to do just fine.

So generous. Wow.

[terrier3]

On 1/19/2014 Marianne is said:

I think he is wonderful for helping, but I do not understand why she does not sign up for healthcare asap.

What he is doing is generous, but totally unnecessary.

The family needs to sign up under the federal exchange. People can help them pay the premiums.

Even two million dollars won't go far with brain cancer.

There is a simple solution - ACA coverage.

One sentence is especially odious - the bills have piled up and treatment has stopped.

What is wrong with TX??????

[fifitwerp]

How come you didn't include this part? The guy isn't stupid. But not signing up for insurance is.

The generous boss believes the restaurant is worth $2 million, and had just turned down an offer of $1.3 million right before hearing about Brittany’s health condition.

“But now I want to auction it off at a reserve price [or minimum bid – 50 percent of the actual value] any anything above that will go to help Brittany,” he said. He hopes to spend more time with his wife and children after selling the restaurant.

[dooBdoo]

It's always good to read about generous spirits.

There's a bit more to the story, according to several articles.

The restaurant owner, who has been wanting to retire and spend more time with his family, has tried to sell the business before but turned down offers. Now, he has set a reserve price and plans to give anything over that price to the family.

Meanwhile, the publicity has generated a flood of donations, offers to cover all her care, and the family is in the process of getting insurance established.

A segment of one article:

"...Offers of comprehensive complementary health care to remove the brain tumor have come in from: The BBC with a comprehensive offer from a London hospital, officials with St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital in Memphis have offered to perform and fund the needed surgery, and representatives from the office of Gov. Mario Cuomo of New York offered to fly Brittany to New York to have the surgery. performed without cost.

The Mathis’ have yet to accept any of the comprehensive offers, and are still weighing their options, Barbara Mathis said. An offer from M.D. Anderson in Houston, to extend full treatment to Brittany “from start to finish,” Barbara Mathis said, is the offer most appealing to the family..."

(www.yourhoustonnews.com, 1/18/2014)

Let's hope it turns out for the best for all involved, but especially for healing for Britanny, who lost her father to a similar tumor.

[Marianne1]

It worries me that they are waiting (perhaps too long?)

[biancardi]

nice story, very generous. But this is not a health care plan that many have where a store owner gives up their business. In fact, that is just plain bad business for a business model. not to mention all of the people that could lose their jobs.