Son's medical bills put family in debt. March 3 2008

Someday, Cheryl Jones Cingano wants to start a foundation that will provide money to families of beating victims who fall through the health care insurance cracks. Advertisement

That's Cingano's long-term goal.

For now, she is struggling, along with husband Paul Cingano, to keep a place to live and get medical care for their son, Bryant.

Like James Williams, who was beaten and left for dead early New Year's Day outside O'Kelly's Sports Bar and Grill, Bryant Cingano was involved in an altercation in Mt. Pleasant in 2006. The aftermath has left his family thousands of dollars in debt as they try to get the best treatment available.

"It's a big problem and people don't realize it," she said."All the help that's out there is for specific things...and there's not much of that, either."

Cheryl's goal is to eventually start a foundation that would provide emergency help to families like her own and the Williamses. Finding a facility that could care for Bryant proved difficult, as was keeping up with bills, his mother said.

Getting Bryant back to California was costly as well.

It cost the family $22,500 to fly him to the San Diego area, and transport costs were not covered by COBRA insurance, Bryant's maternal grandmother, Jeri Jones, said. Edgemoor Hospital in Santee, Calif. accepted Bryant after the family faced rejections from 52 other facilities, his mother said. At the time of the attack, Bryant was in Mt. Pleasant finishing high school. He had stayed behind when his family moved to California during his sophomore year. While Bryant went back to San Diego in 2005 to live with his family, he returned to Mt. Pleasant in January 2006 to complete his education. Bryant was 18 when he was the victim of the brutal attack outside a convenience store on South Mission Street on March 26, 2006. The attack left him in a vegetative state. Caring for Bryant after the beating meant the family had to move back to Michigan, where Byrant had been living with Jones, a Mt. Pleasant Realtor. Bryant's beating devastated the family financially and emotionally, his mother said. Because he had turned 18, Bryant qualified for California's state insurance, Med-Cal, along with $35 a month in Social Security, other expenses caused the family to lose their home.

During Bryant's treatment in Michigan ? including a months'stay at Sparrow Hospital's Neuro Intensive Care Unit before being transferred to a critical care facility in Greenville ? the Cinganos spent about $10,000 in plane fare. Cheryl and Bryant's younger brother stayed in Michigan to help care for and be with Bryant, staying in hotels and eventually renting a two-bedroom home in Greenville that cost $795 a month plus utilities. Before Bryant's injury, his parents had been working toward his father opening his own business, and the couple saved between $30,000 and $35,000 to use as a"cushion" until the business got off the ground, Cheryl said. Paul Cingano's business, Concrete Pumping, was tied to the housing market, which was strong in 2005 but began a downward spiral in mid-2006. While Bryant's mother and youngest son stayed in Michigan, Paul Cingano and son Zach, then 10 years old, stayed in San Diego, with Paul trying to keep up their home and salvage his business.

Since the beating, Cheryl was unable to return to the work force while helping care for Bryant, and the loss of the second income further burdened the family. Now, however, she has conceded that she must find work, although extensive research indicated to Cheryl that spending time with her son is tied to any chance of recovery. Cheryl is looking for a job that would allow her to work from home and the hospital. For her part, Jones is asking friends and acquaintances to donate whatever they can to help the family get back on its feet. "Everyone's prayers and a lot of faith are going to hav