Update: Heart transplant patient Eric De La Cruz dies

A Medicare card  (Wikimedia Commons)

Heart transplant patient Eric De La Cruz died Saturday, July 4, from complications related to his condition, severe dilated cardiomyopathy . The younger brother of CNN journalist Veronica De La Cruz, Eric's struggle with the country's broken healthcare system became highly publicized when his sister began a social media campaign through Twitter to raise awareness of the struggles the uninsured in this country endure.

Only covered under Nevada Medicaid, Eric was stunned to discover that Nevada had no transplant programs, making getting the life-saving heart transplant he would require impossible. Eric's application to receive federal Medicare was rejected twice, and after a judge finally ruled in his favor and granted him Federal Medicare disability status in an expedited hearing, transplant hospitals were still reluctant to admit Eric without supplemental insurance to cover the astronomical expenses associated with a transplant.

It was then that Veronica began her fund raising endeavors in earnest, receiving help from singer Trent Reznor and his band Nine Inch Nails and Tony Hawk and rock band Jane’s Addiction to raise more than $900,000. Supporters eventually reached their goal of having Eric accepted into a transplant program in California, where he finally underwent preparations for the new heart he had hoped to receive, but was never again healthy enough to do so.

In a note to Twitter followers, Veronica De La Cruz wrote:

To Eric's Twitter Army:

It is with the heaviest heart that I write this, my beautiful and beloved little brother Eric De La Cruz has passed away. He died yesterday, July 4, 2009, sometime between 2:20 pm and 2:35 pm. Both my mother and I have been so overcome with grief and sadness, we couldn't bear to put the message out, so until now we shared it with only Eric's closest friends and relatives.

She also spoke of the promises she made to her beloved brother, as he lay dying:

...I also promised him that I would do everything I could to fix this broken healthcare system, so that no one - not one person - would ever have to suffer the way he did, or the way his family has.

Funeral arrangements & memorial services are pending. The family appreciates respect for privacy at this time. Letters, cards & condolences can be forwarded to the

De La Cruz family
c/o Hedrich Creative Group
306 Montgomery Lane
Glenview, IL 60025

For more info: Sign the Petition for Healthcare Reform, We love Eric blog, Please Help Eric De La Cruz Facebook group, Veronica De La Cruz on Twitter, Donate Life America