Kidney patient seeks surgery help

Sosefo Lakalaka says he hasn't seen his wife or children in three years. Photo / Martin Sykes

A Tongan overstayer is stuck in New Zealand footing the bill for twice-weekly dialysis treatments - and unable to return home because to do so would mean his death.

Sosefo Lakalaka, 42 - one of Tonga's most popular guitar players - hasn't seen his wife Suniba and five children in three years, since he travelled here for tests that found both of his kidneys were failing.

Tonga doesn't have any dialysis machines to treat his renal failure.

In NZ, as a non-resident, Mr Lakalaka doesn't qualify for public health funding or any other financial support.

Instead, his family and supporters have been fundraising since 2006 to pay the $853.75 dialysis fee, three times a week, plus living expenses.

In an effort to cut that crippling cost, Mr Lakalaka has reduced his dialysis treatment to twice weekly.

Last year, his niece was matched as a kidney donor but raising the $110,000 for the operation has proven impossible.

Yesterday, Mr Lakalaka, who lives in Avondale, was again undergoing a five-hour lag to clean his blood.

The softly spoken patient struggled to talk about his predicament. He said he'd all but given up hope of gaining residency status and instead was focused on raising the cash for the operation, which is scheduled for June 20.

If that happened, he'd be free to return home. "I have a Tongan lawyer working for free, but it's very hard because this disease isn't accepted by Immigration."

Once-a-week calls home to his children were a lifeline, he said. "I love my family very much, I miss them a lot."

Family advocate Ulualo Pouhila, who has followed Mr Lakalaka's story for the newspaper Taimi o Tonga, said the family were "exhausted" from running fundraising initiatives such as kava parties and radiothons in the Pacific.

He hoped New Zealanders would dig deep to help Mr Lakalaka. "I'm just hoping people will donate even one dollar. If he goes back to Tonga without the operation, he dies."

Lawyer Nalesoni Tupou said he had been lobbying for two years for Mr Lakalaka to become a citizen. There had been previous Tongan cases where residency exceptions were made; however this case was different in that Mr Lakalaka hadn't been a financial burden on the state.

The Labour Government had turned down one application but he hoped new Immigration Minister Jonathan Coleman would review that decision.

Tonga's Director of Health, Dr Siale 'Akau'ola, said the kingdom had a total health budget of 20 million pa'anga ($15.7 million). He said a dialysis programme, where the yearly cost of treating one person is $100,000, isn't something the nation could afford.

HOW TO ASSIST

Donations for the operation can be made through the ANZ bank account:

Sosefo Lakalaka and Family
01 0186 0379433 00