Northfield cancer patient ready to move on; former friend pleads guilty to taking money from medical fund
She never suspected she also would end up battling a friend over thousands of missing dollars from money he helped raise to assist with her medical bills.
As part of the plea agreement, Kmetz was sentenced to two years probation and ordered to repay
"I want to stop him so he can't do this to anyone else," Ralston-Astalos said Friday during an interview in her
Kmetz declined to talk about the case, saying, "I wish her the best."
"I hope she gets her liver transplant and lives a happy, joyous life," he said.
Ralston-Astalos, 51, has an extremely rare form of cancer that started in her sinuses and spread to her liver.
The cancer, ameloblastoma, usually doesn't spread beyond the sinuses. Only a few similar cases have been documented worldwide.
Several years ago, Ralston-Astalos underwent surgery to get rid of the primary cancer by removing the roof of her mouth, half of her jawbone, teeth and most of her sinus cavity. She now relies on a prosthetic palate and oral piece to eat, drink and talk.
Since that surgery, the area around her sinuses has remained cancer-free. Extensive testing has shown no other signs of cancer throughout her body, except for slow-growing, metastatic cysts in her liver.
Because the cancer has spread to both sides of her liver, doctors at the
Her insurance plan last year initially said the transplant was experimental for her condition, and therefore not covered under her policy. But the decision was reversed after an independent physician specialist reviewed her appeal.
She's still on the waiting list for a donor organ.
Even with health coverage, the transplant could end up costing her thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket expenses for deductibles, copays and anti-rejection medications.
So when Kmetz offered a year ago to raise money to help her, she gladly accepted the support.
Ralston-Astalos became friends with Kmetz, a fellow
Kmetz and other supporters called themselves "Team Jeanne" and held charity events that collected donations for the
Ralston-Astalos said she never suspected anything was wrong until one day in July, when she noticed multiple unexplained ATM withdrawals from the fund's bank account for
She froze the account and notified police.
Kmetz had a debit card for the account to use for fundraising purposes only, according to an incident report from
When Ralston-Astalos asked Kmetz about the withdrawals, she said, he later showed her what he insisted was a bill dating back to
"Not only did you steal from me, you stole from my family, my friends -- all these people who wanted to support me," Ralston-Astalos said. "My health for profit? Are you kidding me? Like I don't have enough to deal with?"
Ralston-Astalos' friends are renewing their fundraising efforts and planning future events, including a spaghetti dinner
Donations to the
___
(c)2015 the Akron Beacon Journal (Akron, Ohio)
Visit the Akron Beacon Journal (Akron, Ohio) at www.ohio.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC
Kansas Schools Stage Earthquake Drills
Advisor News
Annuity News
Health/Employee Benefits News
Life Insurance News