A New York Man Recalls How Hillary Clinton Helped Him Battle Cancer When She Was His Senator

It’s sometimes easy to forget, especially in the midst of a relatively nasty presidential campaign, that Hillary Clinton has helped a lot of people during her time in various aspects of public service. One such story comes via Cosmopolitan, which describes the saga of James Grissom, a New Yorker who was diagnosed with bladder cancer in 2007. Grissom, a part-time employee at a museum book store, found himself in an unenviable position: an American with cancer without health insurance..

With nowhere else to turn, his urologist sent him to Planned Parenthood, where a doctor got him a family discount. Eventually though his bills caught up with him, though, and he was sent to collections, which turned him to his local senator, Clinton, for help.

Grissom recounts the tale of his brush with Clinton and how she helped him out of his predicament.

I contacted the office of my senator, Hillary Clinton, and within two weeks I was speaking to someone in her office, who, at one point, handed the phone to the senator herself. “You did not enter a credit agreement with that hospital,” she told me, “so I cannot fathom why they are pursuing you as if you did. In addition, that hospital is aided by the state of New York and the federal government, so they are way out of line. You need to fight this cancer and get well: You don’t have time for this nonsense. Let me look into it.”

Within a week, the collection calls ceased, and within a month, Hillary Clinton put me in touch with two organizations offering financial aid to people undergoing cancer treatment. These organizations eliminated half of my debt, and within eighteen months, I had paid the remaining amount, without any collection activity or annoying calls.

His story goes into further detail, explaining how he was a Bernie Sanders supporter, but how’s he’s now happy to support Clinton. During election seasons it’s easy to get swept up in all of the hype, talk and vitriol that will be spilling out onto the internet and airwaves, making it equally easy to forget that there are always stories like this that aren’t heavily publicized, but show the impact that politicians can have on average citizens.

(Via Cosmopolitan)