Jonathan Arroyo

Jonathan is a fighter and has persevered though a very long road to recovery that has been complicated not only by medical issues, but a huge weight gain and loss and even bullying by classmates. Jonathan has survived all of these trials and tribulations and now he needs your help.

Family and friends of Jonathan Arroyo are raising money for the nonprofit Help Hope Live to fund uninsured medical expenses associated with transplantation.

Jonathan’s medical issues began when at the age of 10. He began seeing multiple doctors at CHOP in Philadelphia including Urologists and Nephrologists. He began to quickly gain weight reaching as high as 523 lbs. He had to undergo surgeries even enduring a vesecostomy. For six weeks, he had to stay in the Seashore House, a Children’s Rehabilitation Hospital.

Imagine how sad it was for a mother that when he finally got back to school, his classmates called him “Diaper Dan.” This forced us to get Jon a tutor at home for awhile. This setback only made the weight gain greater which of course put his diabetes into a tailspin.

Jon does not give up. He decided to have gastric bypass surgery. He dropped the weight, but not before it was too late. Jon went into kidney failure on November 4th of 2010. We almost lost him but after 3 weeks in the hospital and 9 years of dialysis, he was put on the transplant list. This was no easy task because Jonathan had to earn his spot on the list by losing more weight. Thankfully, the weight dropped quickly for Jon; he now weighs 191 lbs and was on the transplant list.

The best was yet to come! On September 4th 2018, Jonathan received a brand new kidney. He also did not let the words of his classmates deter him. He graduated from Muhlenberg Vo-tech, scoring highest on the Nocti’s test and he graduated from Muhlenberg H.S. in 2005.

Help us help Jon finally have a normal life. Jonathan has chosen to fundraise for Help Hope Live in part because Help Hope Live assures fiscal accountability of funds raised and tax deductibility to the full extent allowed by law for contributors. Contributors can be sure donations will be used to pay or reimburse medical and related expenses. To make a tax-deductible donation to this fundraising campaign, click on the Give button.

For more information, please contact Help Hope Live at 800.642.8399.

Thank you for your support!