Nathaniel Pearson (rpgdirector): Grievance Manager

[Keith Katsikas]

Nathaniel Pearson (rpgdirector): Grievance Manager

Please report all issues you may have to Nathaniel and he will help in every way possible and will report your concerns to those who can help further.

[Keith Katsikas]

If any of you are wondering where Nat is, he is critically ill. Please pray for him. Visit his myspace page. You can get ther through mine. You can read up on his condition there and leave a message for him.

[WildfireCEO]

Wow this is very serious. I know we all kid but I will be praying for him. I hope he gets better soon.

[Keith Katsikas]

Medical crisis, bills plague Emporian
By Bobbi Mlynar (Contact)
Tuesday, October 17, 2006


A young Emporia businessman remains in the critical care unit at Stormont-Vail hospital in Topeka, his store in the Flinthills Mall has been closed until further notice, and no relief is in sight from the medical bills that are piling up at an alarming rate.

Nathaniel Pearson, owner of Sporadic Games, has a genetic blood condition that prohibits him from getting health insurance. The condition, factor V Leiden, which results in life-threatening blood clots, surfaced when he was 9 years old.

He is the son of Steve and Ellie Pearson of Emporia.

Steve Pearson said that though health problems seemed to be resolved when his son was 9, doctors told them factor V might or might not return. The years between 9 and 22 were good ones.

“From 9 to 22, it was not a big problem,” Pearson said. “He was our athlete.”

Nathaniel Pearson graduated from Emporia High School and went on to Manhattan Christian College, where he was named an All-American soccer player. He was named to a traveling national soccer team and spent that summer playing for the United States.

“Since then, we can’t seem to keep it away,” his father said of the disease.

Pearson also has other blood-related problems. He suffers from ITP (idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura), which “causes blood platelets to disappear and he can’t stop bleeding,” his father said. Sometimes the clotting and thinning arise simultaneously to create even more complex problems. Another blood problem affects his ability to breathe.

“He gets a little infection, and everything goes crazy,” Steve Pearson said.

Nathaniel Pearson has been in and out of hospitals the past five years, and visits to his doctor’s office are part of his routine. In between, he has periods of seemingly good health.

“When he’s not in the hospital in critical condition then, yes, he can run the store,” his father said. “He’s not disabled all the time.”

Pearson was an assistant soccer coach at Emporia High School and a youth pastor at his church until health problems made those activities impossible.

Now, his health problems have been made worse by a stapholococcal infection and bacterial meningitis.

Last Wednesday at 1 a.m., the family took him to the emergency room at Newman Regional Health. By 6 a.m., doctors had made arrangements for him to be airlifted to Stormont-Vail. There, Pearson is receiving dialysis because his kidneys shut down; he is on a respirator, being kept sedated and being fed intravenously. Scott Pearson said his son may be in the critical care unit for four to six weeks before he can be released to a standard hospital room.

Sporadic Games has been closed indefinitely. The store sells card and board games and collectibles and features a game room in the back, where youngsters can gather.

Those young people, other customers and friends have posted messages and hung posters of encouragement that will be given to Nathaniel Pearson later, when he is able to read them.

Because of his chronic health problems, Nathaniel Pearson has not been able to buy health insurance. Because he owns a small business, he does not qualify for any medical assistance from the state of Kansas, the Federal government or any charitable foundation that hospital social workers can find.

“All he qualifies for is doctors’ visits, and he pays for them,” his father said.

A fund to help pay Pearson’s medical expenses has been opened at Bank of America, 2727 West 15th Ave. Checks should be made payable to the Nathaniel Pearson Medical Fund. Donations are tax-deductible, according to Hillary Sullivan of the bank.

[Deleted]

I truly believe Natanial will pull through on the premise that I have to believe that in this world it is possible for good things to happen to good people. I've only met him once, but even that was enough to know that's he's just a super great person.

Best wishes, Nate.

I haven't prayed in many years, but this makes me want to, for him.