By JOE R. BOWLING, JR.
JOSE SANTOS MONCIVIAS III
Business owners and citizens from Port Isabel have taken up a cause and are helping in raising funds for one of their own to receive a heart transplant. This Saturday at Doubleday’s Restaurant family and friends of 25-year-old Jose Santos Moncivias III will be there on hand in what they are hoping will be a successful event.
“We have received so much support from everyone around,” said Moncivias’ mother Amelia Garcia, “he has been through so much and this is so great to see people wanting to help.”
Moncivias has been steadily battling a heart condition since he first received word that there was a problem back at age 16. He now is on a list for a heart transplant and is having to move to Houston in order to be closer to the doctors that will eventually perform the surgery.
“They told us we had to be close when the call came in,” said Garcia, “but this isn’t going to be easy to do.”
Moncivias graduated from Port Isabel High School and is hoping someday to attend college.
“He has all of the grant money lined up,” said Garcia, “and he really wants to study computers in college soon.”
The transplant list he is on is something that isn’t easy to get on even with severe heart conditions.
“There are a lot of tests and steps to take,” said Garcia, “just because you have a bad heart does not mean you get on the list. You have to go through a lot.”
For more on this story, pick up a copy of the Mar. 10 edition of the Port Isabel South Padre Press or check out our E-edition by clicking here.
