Chapter 1: A Family's Plea

It all started on March 31st with a seemingly minor issue: my Grandpa woke up feeling an unusual pain between his toes. Somehow, he had sustained a cut that was quickly becoming infected. Since it was Easter Sunday and my parents were hosting a family gathering, they rushed him to the hospital, only to be turned away due to the unbearable wait times.

At 86 years old, my Grandpa—stubborn and diabetic—wasn't keen on spending hours sitting uncomfortably in a hospital waiting room for what he considered a trivial injury. He insisted he could wait.

The next morning, however, things had taken a turn for the worse; the wound was now blackening. With fewer complaints, he was taken back to the hospital, where he returned home later with powerful antibiotics.

Fast forward nearly two months, and his situation has only deteriorated. He has been in and out of the hospital, reliant on daily intravenous fluids, and his toe is now fully necrotic—a sight that makes me feel nauseous every time I see it. H